


Of Heroes and Love

by Ailec_12



Series: Anatomy of a Home [1]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Episode: s03e20 Kansas, Family Feels, Family Issues, Fix-It, Found Family, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, I mean they are related, Redemption, Sister-Sister Relationship, Sort Of, There's Rumbelle in the prologue, Trust Issues, but being family is a process, enemies to family, issues in general
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-23
Updated: 2019-08-25
Packaged: 2020-05-18 12:06:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 30,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19334215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ailec_12/pseuds/Ailec_12
Summary: Canon divergence from 3x20 on.Redemption requires two things: someone willing to try and someone willing to patiently support the other. Regina hasn't got much patience; Zelena is everything but willing.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written and published on FF in 2015.
> 
> I have a big project due next week, so of course I'm revising old fics instead of working on it. I know it's been _ages_ since the 3x20 episode aired, but this series is my baby and I've been way too invested in it for the past four years. It also had an amazing response on FF, so I'd like to offer new material to those readers who may already be familiarised with the series —besides, I'm correcting every chapter before uploading it, so you'll find new details even if you're rereading. This is the first half of the series and I'll be posting some additional vignettes as we reach the points in the story where they belong.
> 
> Updates will probably be quite random until I get my project sorted out, but I hope you enjoy the story anyway. Please, let me know what you think. Comments make my day!

“If I were you, I’d consider creating a new destiny. Because if you don’t, I’ll be right there to take your heart and crush it. Now, if you’ll excuse me... I should put this somewhere safe.”

Zelena scoffed rather aloofly, refusing to look at her pendant. For being good, her sister did make some serious threats. She was not surprised, she knew the reason: the former Queen was inherently evil, the villain of her story, no matter how much she claimed otherwise. The redhead saw right through her self-righteous act, knowing better than anyone that one could never escape their fate. Both of their roles had already been written down and, just like the Wicked Witch had found out, fate could not be rewritten. She had broken a law of magic and, still, she had been defeated before she could change her past. She, her sister —everything remained the same.

The click of Regina’s heels against the floor had stopped and the silence snapped Zelena out of her thoughts. The brunette was standing with her back turned, facing the exit door but not crossing it. Although she was seemingly hesitating to move, she never looked back.

“They say that... it’s nice to have family in town.”

And with that, Regina finally walked out of the sheriff’s station.

Zelena scoffed louder that time —she needed something to cover up her surprise, even if there was no one left to hear her. She knew better than to take that sentence at face value, but it was still unexpected to be called ‘family,’ as laughable as the notion was. It was also irrelevant, as the other woman would learn her lesson eventually, too; of that the witch was sure. She would probably not be around to see it, though. What a pity.

* * *

When Rumplestiltskin saw Belle, completely in white and more lovely than he could ever have dreamt of, he knew he had made the right choice and hoped that she was all the strength he needed.

Rumple was a coward and, thus, he was afraid of many things. Having lost his free will had been the most terrifying experience so far —even more than turning into the Dark One. He had spent every moment of his captivity swearing he would get his revenge on Zelena. When Baelfire died, that promise had become an oath.

Then, Belle had barged in his shop, stated she loved him and managed to shock every fibre of his being when she showed him the dagger. The only thing she had asked in return was that he chose her over darkness. That is, he would not go after the currently powerless witch. Truthfully, he did not know if he could turn his back on vengeance, but he was determined to try. After his son’s death, losing Belle as well would devastate him for good. He just wanted to be with her, always.

She had accepted his proposal and so, there they were. She was shining, a light — _his_ light— standing out in the dark forest. She had always shone, brighter than any flame, than any person. She was beautiful, but it was her words and actions what had made him fall in love with her more and more deeply. Her voice broke remembering all those times they had been separated, all those times when their love had just not been enough, and he swore to himself that he would do everything in his power so that she did not have to go through any of that ever again.

“And I vow to you I will never forget the distance between what I was and what I am.” He was still uncertain that he would manage to make good on his promise, but he would rather suffer a thousand of deaths before subjecting Belle to any more affliction for his own selfishness.

She always knew what to reply.

“Sometimes, the best book has the dustiest jacket. And sometimes, the best teacup is chipped.”


	2. Chapter One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a bit of a filler chapter, but I hope you enjoy Regina interacting with her family anyway.

The first night was cold. Not that cold was a foreign element to Zelena. Back in Oz, she would feel a chill that gnawed at her bones every time her father scolded her. Her mother had been warm, like a spring breeze, but also like spring, that time of her life had been short-lived, albeit bright. She would feel cold, too, whenever she beheld Regina and thought of how Cora had abandoned her. She would feel cold when none of her supposed Oz sisters would notice her absence because they had sweet, innocent Dorothy. She would feel cold every time the world showed her that she was not good enough.

And yet, that cold night turned out to be a surprise, because she had failed and a new day was going to greet her nevertheless. She had always thought the price of failure would be death, but even in that it seemed she was wrong. She did not have the faintest clue why Regina was keeping her locked up, although she guessed her death would come sooner or later. She told herself she was not afraid, merely curious to find out the Queen’s reasons and the final outcome.

With those questions stuck in her head, she stayed awake all night. Memories of her life and the people who had intervened in it drowned her and stopped her from falling asleep. She stared right ahead, oblivious to her surroundings, wrapped up in a grey blanket and with the chill firmly settled in her bones.

* * *

 

As Regina watched Henry eating his breakfast, she kept reminding herself that it was no dream. She and her son were actually sharing a breakfast like nothing else in the world mattered.

The previous night had been perfect. She and Robin had had a date, an absolutely ideal date. She knew she loved him. And he, in spite of having seen her nearly at her worst during their missing year in the Enchanted Forest, loved her back. His eyes told her so every time she looked into them.

They had talked and opened themselves in a way neither of them had done for a very long time. Regina even dared address the current hot topic at hand: her sister. It amazed her how quickly Robin understood she was reluctant to let any harm come to Zelena, even if the feeling puzzled the former mayor half the time. The witch had put Roland in danger, as well as Henry, Regina and the rest of the town. Yet, the former outlaw had nodded pensively, albeit understandingly, when she had stumbled over her words, confessing in a whisper that, in a way, looking at Zelena was like looking in a mirror, the lonely, scarred part of herself scowling right back at her. Whatever the connection between them, Regina could not ignore it— and whether it was based on blood or Cora, she would rather not think of it. She was unable to hide the anguish on her face, so she had leant into him, half burying herself in his shoulder, and Robin had let out a long sigh before caressing the side of her face. They had stayed quiet for some time, until he had broken the silence. The words did not come out easily, but he had asked her to be careful and to remember that one could only help those who wanted to be helped. However, then he had declared that she had his support and that she was definitely not alone. She had snuggled more deeply into him, stating in return that she did not want Zelena to go through her grief on her own as she had, once. Tightening his hold, he had kissed the top of her head and Regina had looked up, just for her heart to skip a beat the next second. He had looked so proud and so in love that she had nearly burst into tears. He was worried for her, but forgiveness was no longer weakness in her family.

After talking and kissing for as long as they could get away with, they had gone out to pick Roland up before going to Granny’s. It had been a celebration she had truly enjoyed and not even Snow and Charming’s excessive cheerfulness could irritate her —she would never admit it, though. To put the cherry on top, Henry had come home with her and now they were having breakfast. She could not possibly ask for anything else.

“Mom?”

She had been deep in thought, but judging by his tone, her little prince must have been trying to reach her for a while.

“Yes, sweetheart?”

“Are you okay?”

“Of course, Henry.”

“Are you sure? You look upset,” he said as he scrunched up his nose, undeterred. “You know I won’t go away, right? My family’s here and I’ll try to convince Emma to stay because she’s part of it, too. But I won’t leave you in any case. Never again.”

“Oh, Henry,” was all Regina could utter before engulfing him in a strong embrace. She closed her eyes to hold back the tears that suddenly threatened to escape. “Thank you, honey. And I will never leave you again, either, I promise.” She hugged him for a few more seconds before he raised his head, searching for something in her face. As he looked at her, she could see that his eyes were still full of uncertainty, so she had no other choice but to reassure him, even if her words would most certainly break their morning peace. “I’m not upset, really. I’m only a bit concerned about Zelena.”

“Zelena? Why?” he asked, fully stepping away from the hug to look at her properly.

She smiled at the protectiveness in her son’s voice, though she already missed his warmth. She took one of his hands between hers, as if to summon up her courage, and let the smile fall, heaving a sad sigh before answering.

“She can’t stay in that cell forever, Henry. The sheriff’s station isn’t set up for it. I intend to talk with Snow, David and Emma to find another solution.”

“And... What do you want to do?” he asked, a bit pensively.

“What do you mean?”

“I know you, Mom. You’ve already figured out something.”

Regina hesitated, because she had, but even to her ears, it sounded as if she were out of her mind. She had yet to work out completely how to present the matter to the Charmings. She had even less idea how Henry would react to her plan. However, she needed to be sincere with him. She had lied to him too many times in the past and, besides, it was his home as well. If he was not all right with her idea, she would not push it.

“I... I want to bring Zelena here if you’re okay with it, sweetheart. She’d still be under arrest, of course, and I’d put spells in place to guarantee our safety —especially yours.”

All of a sudden, Regina was afraid of having broken his trust or having let him down somehow. Her son just looked at her thoughtfully, though, considering her words.

“I don’t know if I like it,” he answered eventually and she was glad he did not hesitate to be honest with her.

“It’s okay, Henry. It really is. We’ll come up with something else.”

“I haven’t refused yet, Mom. Just let me think about it.”

“Sure. I just don’t want you to feel forced to make any decision you don’t want to, all right?”

“All right, Mom,” he said, a bit exasperated, but smiling.

Then, to her relief, breakfast went on without any more heavy conversation. When they finished, she got up and started washing the dishes. She half expected her son to wander off, but he stayed.

“Henry,” she told him after a moment, “I’m going to Snow’s before lunch. Do you want to come?”

“Sure,” he agreed, beaming once again.

Just the boy’s happiness for his new family dynamic was worth it. They drove to the apartment and were greeted at the front door by David. Right away, Henry asked where baby Neal was and, then, hurried upstairs to Emma’s room, where both siblings were spending some time together.

“Hi, Regina!”

The earnestness in Snow’s voice still managed to catch the former Queen by surprise.

“Hi, Snow,” she replied with an eye roll, pretending to be annoyed at the younger woman’s effusiveness.

She let David accompany her to the kitchen island. There were two mugs already on the table and, a few seconds later, a third one was set in front of her. Regina thanked him as Snow smiled at the interaction.

“Is something the matter? You look worried.”

As much as Snow currently loved having the older brunette over, she knew her well enough to know there must be a reason for such an early visit.

“Since when can people read me so easily?” Regina grumbled.

Snow only lifted her eyebrows and waited for a real answer, making the other woman sigh but reply all the same. As usual, she was diving head-first into the problem and she wished then that she would have thought it through.

“I was just thinking... The sheriff’s station isn’t fit to live in forever. We can’t just throw Zelena in there and forget the key.”

Regina tried to give her words a confidence that she was far from feeling. In fact, she felt very insecure every time she spoke about her sister without homicidal intentions. Yet, if someone was to understand that craziness, it would be the couple in front of her.

“Yes. I’d know about that, wouldn’t I?” retorted Snow smirking.

“Uh?”

“I know first-hand that the station isn’t thought for a long stay.”

Catching the meaning behind those words at once, Regina found herself at a loss for several seconds.

“Oh.” She ran her tongue over her lips quickly and swallowed, feeling her mouth uncomfortably dry. “Yeah. I suppose you do.”

Snow did not seem truly upset, but even so, the older woman remained quiet, unable to decide what else she should say. Thankfully, David intervened, breaking any tension that might have built in their silence.

“So, what do you suggest we do?”

Regina cleared her throat before speaking, still mulling over her next words.

“I’ve thought of my home —house arrest, I mean—, but only if Henry’s fine with it. And he doesn’t know yet whether he is or not. So, the only other place I can think of is the psychiatric ward.”

Deep down, she was afraid everyone would be happy enough to go along with the latter option. She felt like she should be, too. When she looked them in the eye, she had her answer before they even opened their mouths.

“I don’t know, Regina.” David was frowning and disapproval was evident in his voice. “She’s dangerous and you want her to live with you and Henry.”

She was unable to swallow down her rage —that is, her impotence.

“She just needs a second chance, Charming. You know about those, don’t you?” she snapped and refused to feel any regret about it.

“We’re your family, Regina, so you have our support no matter what,” Snow cut in, placating. “Zelena almost killed Neal yesterday, though. You must understand why we don’t like the idea. She could escape or hurt you. We’re just worried.”

The former mayor sighed again and put a hand over her eyes for a second. The worst part of all was how reasonable both of them sounded. People with such blind faith in love should never sound that reasonable.

“I know,” she conceded in the end, looking up, “but I really believe that, if I can change, she can, too. She only needs someone on her side, someone who believes in her.” She fixed her gaze on Snow at that point and the words ‘like you believed in me’ were left unsaid. She kept on, focusing on the most rational side of her argument. “I have magic and she doesn’t. I’m not an idiot, I don’t trust her to behave. I’d put up wards outside my house and in Henry’s room. On him, too. At any rate, you should trust me to be more careful than you ever were,” she finished in an attempt to lift the mood.

Snow offered her a tiny smile for her effort, but did not answer straight away. Actually, the couple was quiet for a few seconds, exchanging a look before the younger brunette decided to speak.

“All right,” she agreed, sighing. Then, she steeled herself. “I don’t want her anywhere near Neal right now and I really want you to be cautious. Don’t take unnecessary risks. Cast a protection spell on your room and yourself, too.” She softened up a bit before going on. “I do understand why you want to do this, though, and this family will always support each other. Right, Charming?”

“Do I have another option?” he said, half joking. His expression was slightly strained and Regina imagined a time when she had been the subject of a similar conversation.

“As long as you don’t make it your new catchphrase,” the former Queen acquiesced in return with a little smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for sticking around and, please, don't hesitate to leave a comment! We'll see the Mills sisters together in the next chapter.


	3. Chapter Two

Emma had not been so easy to convince. Even though Regina could relate to her lack of trust, it did not stop her from feeling irritated. In the end, the saviour had given in after being reassured time and again that Zelena would be under strict house arrest and spells would be around to restrain her as well.

Deep down, both women knew the former Queen could protect herself if anything happened, so the true issue was Henry. Emma refused to let him stay at Regina’s place if Zelena was there, too, while their son had said he did not mind the ginger’s presence, stating he trusted his mom and what she was doing. Regina would never put him in any sort of danger, either, but there was no chance they would be living apart when he did not even want to. Besides, she had no doubts about being able to contain her sister. Last time she had seen her, Zelena did not look able to end a mouse, let alone another witch. Physically, she would surely recover fast, but her magic was gone and it was an opportunity —to connect, to show her what she wanted was not so far out of her reach— that the brunette was not going to waste. Thus, with a little of that faith that ran in their family’s blood, a compromise was reached and Emma went with Regina to her home, so that they could cast the protection spells together.

The blonde was still wary when they said goodbye, but it helped that Henry was staying at the apartment for the day, as all the adults had agreed that it would be better if only Regina were to welcome Zelena into her new home. And so, it was already late afternoon when the brunette headed to the station, after having stopped at Granny’s to pick up some lunch for her new prisoner. She contained a shudder at the word, feeling annoyed with herself right away. She was trying her best to stay calm, but she had already hesitated choosing the food and that aggravating little fact had soured her mood further. And yet, she needed to appear as unflappable —even disinterested— as possible to have the slightest chance with her sister.

Her sister —what a weird thought that was. She had been alone for so long... And, suddenly, she had Henry, the Charmings and Emma on her side. Even Robin and Roland. She may not have had the best of luck with her blood relatives, but she did have a family. With those thoughts warming her, she pushed the last door open.

The infamous Witch of the West was sitting with her feet tucked under her body, almost in the same position that Regina had left her the previous night. She barely looked up when the brunette came in, but she was the first one to talk.

“Why, good afternoon, dear sis. Are you going to make a habit of paying me a visit every day?”

She only received a guarded look in return, failing to unsettle the other woman.

“Good afternoon, Zelena. I brought you lunch. And some news.”

“Oh?”

It was probably the most heated contest of indifference that Storybrooke had ever lived. Regina came closer and that illusion of apathy was shattered —her steps reminded of a predator stalking her prey. Without a word, the former mayor handled out the food and, to her surprise, the redhead took it without a fight.

After fidgeting hesitantly for a moment, Regina chose to remain standing, while Zelena peeked inside the paper bag. Even though the lunch was wrapped up and she could not see what she had been brought, she made no move to take anything. The younger woman waited to see whether another derisive comment would be thrown in her direction, but nothing happened.

“We’ve decided it’s better if you take your imprisonment at my house,” she finally blurted out, keeping vague who else made the decision on purpose —her sister did not need to know she had consulted every member of her family.

A look of startling surprise appeared on Zelena’s face and, in return, it shocked Regina.

“I— I’m sorry?”

“Yes, I’m sure you’re sorry you got yourself caught,” she retorted, rolling her eyes. “It doesn’t matter, though. You’re still staying at my place.”

“Why, Regina?” was the disdainful response. The redhead had sounded exactly like that when she had questioned why she had not been killed right away. The brunette wanted to believe it was just a well-perfected mask. “I haven’t taken that second chance yet. And you don’t know if I ever will.”

Those words tugged at Regina’s heart, so her swift reply came out in a gentle voice —the sort of voice that someone would use to explain something extraordinary, albeit essential, to a very ignorant child.

“When someone gives you another chance, Zelena, you can’t expect to drive them away just by refusing it. Believe me, I know it first-hand,” she added, smirking.

“So now, what? You want me to agree with you and live happily ever after imprisoned in your house?”

“Dear, I don’t think it’ll do you any good to be sassy with me. Don’t get into fights you can’t win.”

The ginger needed to know who was in control of the situation, so Regina closed the distance between her and the cell with two resolute steps and opened the door with the key that Emma had given to her. She would rather not use magic in front of the other woman lest it made her snap. Or perhaps consideration had nothing to do with it and the reason was based on the simple fact that, for a while, she had been trying not to rely on her powers excessively.

“Come on. You really don’t want me to drag you out.”

Zelena had become very still as soon as her cell door was open. For several long seconds, she just sat there, warily eyeing Regina as if in an attempt to figure out where the catch was. At last, her gaze clouded over and she seemed to reach the conclusion that there was nothing she could do. At the moment, it was very easy to read her. She was the Evil Queen’s prisoner. She had failed and the consequences could not be pretty. The only thing left to do was to put on a good face and show she was not afraid. She got up without a sound and stepped forward, looking defiant all the while.

The car ride was an uncomfortable one, filled with an extremely awkward silence. Yet, every time Regina thought she was going to regret her decision, she glanced sideways at the stiff red-haired woman. She was particularly good at reading people, but from the moment she had started the engine, almost anyone could have seen that her sister was scared. The brunette had been scared, too, every time Snow had looked at her with eyes brimming with hope, affirming she believed in the former Queen —especially, during those not-so-forgotten-anymore months in the Enchanted Forest. It was terrifying to have someone believe so deeply that you could do better when you were certain you would fail at every turn.

Zelena stayed uncharacteristically quiet as Regina guided her through the main parts of her home —her attention seemed fixed on her younger sister rather than the rooms she was shown. Finally, they went upstairs and the brunette led her to what was going to be her room from then on. It was plain enough, albeit well-lit, with a large bed, an almost empty wardrobe and a cosy window seat —all in all, just a spare bedroom that had not found much use up to that moment. Regina frowned slightly, realising it was too bare. Although she had magically fixed some of her clothes to fit the taller woman, she would have to procure new ones and maybe a distraction, too, like books or magazines —not a television, though. If Zelena wanted modern amenities, she would have to make the effort to step out and behave civilly.

Regina shook off those thoughts for the time being in order to focus on the redhead’s reaction. The latter was glaring at the room with very tight lips, as if to show she did not care for her cage, no matter how nice it was. And yet, her blue eyes were open wide, taking in every detail of the room, and the brunette wondered whether the clenched fists were a way to conceal shock rather than to contain anger. If her wariness at the station was any indication, Zelena must have convinced herself that she would be locked in the basement or something along those lines.

“I hope it’s to your liking, _sis_ ,” Regina said, breaking the silence at last. She did not manage to sound completely sincere and yet, her voice was not entirely sarcastic, either.

“I don’t suppose I’ve got much choice.”

“I guess you haven’t.”

The brunette would be lying to herself if she claimed she did not enjoy getting a rise out of her sister. Still, she decided to save some confrontation for later. She stepped fully into the room and opened the wardrobe to show the new resident her current clothing.

“You’ll have to make do with these until I can drop by your farmhouse and pick up your own clothes,” she stated, dryly, only to realise she kept on antagonising Zelena without meaning to. Frustrated, she tried to soften her words by adding, “I could also buy you some, just tell me what you’d rather wear.”

Any pity she had felt vanished when she only received a snarl for her effort. The redhead’s face was completely closed off, so Regina decided to leave it alone and put an end to their talk.

“Would you like me to reheat your sandwich?”

“Uh?”

During the whole ride, she had noticed that the former witch kept a tight grip on the paper bag, but had yet to reach for the food. The brunette tried not to overanalyse it —both of them already had enough on their plate. Instead, she just lifted an eyebrow and pointed her chin at the brown bag to convey her meaning.

“No, it... it is fine.” The answer came out a couple of seconds too late to sound honest. Zelena clutched the food closer to her chest, apparently without realising.

“You sure? Because you haven’t even looked at it.”

Regina’s amusement seemed to snap her out of it and the ginger looked daggers at her, whereas her face betrayed nothing but cold fury. She released her tight hold on the bag, finally placing it on the vanity, and sat down on the bed with as much dignity as she could afford in her current situation. The brunette met her stare steadily, trying not to give anything away, either.

“Don’t you dare think you hold any power over me,” Zelena growled and Regina narrowed her brown eyes in return. “I won’t be the goodies’ new pet.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally some action between the sisters, yay. And I'm done with my project, so double yay! From now on, I'll be posting a new chapter every two or three days at the latest.  
> To celebrate, I wrote a [short one shot](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19465270/chapters/46332739) taking place after this chapter. Check it out!


	4. Chapter Three

Regina had left the bedroom sighing internally and had not seen her sister all evening. She had been talking on the phone with Henry and, then, Robin had stopped by to see how she was doing. However, Regina was not at ease yet around the powerless witch and so, did not let him stay very long. The thief left with a kiss, a smile and a promise that he would drop by again the following day. His open love amazed her every time, making it even harder not to give in and hold on to him instead of letting him go. She reminded herself that, if that night went well, she would not have to feel as if she was compromising her loved ones’ safety just by having them over.

As soon as she was alone, her mind was fixed on the woman upstairs and the unexpected silence that had accompanied her arrival. By dinner time, she had been trying and failing to focus on her book for over an hour and yet, she was reluctant to get up and engage with her sister for the second time in just a few hours. She gave herself a moment to gather up her courage, recognising the feeling for what it was —fear—, and headed to the kitchen. She decided to reheat some leftovers and put a lid on the frying pan before climbing up the stairs. She wanted to get it over with quickly, but the redhead did not answer when she knocked on her door. Regina willed herself to control her temper.

“Zelena? Dinner’s almost ready,” she announced sharply.

Silence was the only response.

“Zelena, I’m going to come in if you don’t answer the damn door!” Another beat and, still, no reply. She buffed, exasperated at such antics. “Very well,” she muttered, opening the door at once.

Her sister was sitting on the middle of the bed, staring down at her hands on her lap with a look of calculated tedium. Making no attempt to lift her face, she asked,

“What do you want now?” Her voice sounded mildly irritated. However, the fire that had been present earlier was doused at the moment and Regina thought her question sounded small as well. A small voice whose owner sat on a huge bed, she observed, drawing from that fact to find her patience once again.

“It’s time for dinner,” she replied, more calmly.

Zelena glanced up at her, just to look back down immediately, not giving the brunette a chance to figure out what was hiding behind those blue eyes.

“And?”

As she would not meet her eyes, the redhead missed Regina’s puzzled look.

“And you need to get off the bed and go downstairs with me.”

For a second, the ginger lost her tight grip on her emotions. She finally fixed her gaze on Regina, opening her mouth hesitantly, as if she were going to ask something else. In the end, she did not, but she opened her mouth once again a few seconds later. On that occasion, she answered, uttering an excuse that the brunette had already anticipated.

“I’m not hungry.”

Despite having expected it, the petulant tone grated on her nerves and she wondered why her sister had to make something as simple as dinner so difficult.

“I don’t care. I’m not about to let you do whatever you want,” she retorted, cutting and cold, having definitely run out of patience.

Zelena narrowed her eyes, staring back at her.

“I knew it!” she yelled in a high-pitched voice that contained nothing but rage. “I knew this bloody second chance business was all crap,” she went on, getting on her feet and as far away from the younger woman as she could. “What are you going to do now, Regina?” she spat with venomous contempt. “Going to force food down your prisoner’s throat?”

Both women were furious and very aware of how, in a way, that could be dangerous for each of them. Zelena’s last words had hit the brunette hard and she just knew one way to mask that kind of hurt —hurling back more of her rage. The redhead must know it, too, because she was waiting for a reaction. When Regina realised how happy she would be to oblige her, she did the only other thing she could think of: she turned around and got out of the room slamming the door.

* * *

The confrontation with her sister had left Regina without any appetite. She let the leftovers go cold again and spent most of the following hour pacing the living room back and forth. How Robin had been so patient with her back in the Enchanted Forest was a mystery to her eyes. She could hardly restrain herself from strangling the redhead. A mobile phone would have been useful to ask him, but he was still adapting to life in Storybrooke. She made a mental note to buy him one next time she went out with him. For the time being, though, she needed to do something about her resentful guest upstairs —and that was just the problem. Zelena was not her guest, but her prisoner. The brunette was trying to bond with a woman that could only see her as the person who had destroyed her plans and taken away her magic.

Regina had known that having her sister staying in the house would not be easy. Yet, she had thought she would be... more successful at it. So far, the redhead never passed up on the opportunity of pushing her buttons and not once did she offer any place from where they could start over. With a sigh, she realised she sounded as whiny as her sister. It was partly her fault, too. The brunette was too quick to get angry and too slow to respond Zelena’s outbursts with kindness.

“Well, I suppose she isn’t the only one who has to learn some things,” she muttered to the empty room.

First things first. Even though it was already late, her sister had not eaten at all since lunch, if even then. Regina had no stomach for real, heavy food herself and thought that the fallen witch might be more willing to try something sweet anyway.

Before she could second-guess herself, she was knocking on Zelena’s door with one hand while with the other she balanced a tray. The red-haired woman took a while, but she finally opened the door herself.

“What do you want now?” she practically growled, looking even more tired than at her cell in the station.

“Come on, you must be hungry,” tried Regina, not quite managing to hold back all her annoyance. She then lifted the tray with the two bowls as a peace offering.

Zelena looked at them, clearly intrigued, before she seemed to remember her façade.

“Well, I’m not,” she eventually answered, making an effort to meet brown eyes. Even so, she opened the door wider and stepped back.

“I thought you may be up for some ice cream,” was all the explanation she received as Regina sat down on a chair.

The redhead buffed. She kept her face perfectly expressionless, but her next words betrayed her confusion.

“I don’t know why...”

For a moment, the brunette indulged the thought that the sentence might have finished with ‘you’re being so kind to me,’ because how else could the offering of ice cream be the source of such hesitancy? Yet, Zelena did not attempt to clarify herself, settling instead for a glare in her sister’s direction.

She remained standing, although eventually she did take her bowl.

“I want to be left alone. Now,” she snapped, stressing the last word.

“Too bad. I’ll leave when we’ve both finished eating,” the brunette replied, shrugging carelessly.

Later, she thought she may actually be delusional, for she had the feeling that the ginger had not looked as irked as she had earlier that evening.

* * *

They had eaten surrounded by a dense silence. After their argument, it could have been more uncomfortable, though. When they were done, Regina had picked up the bowls, set them back on the tray and got out of the room saying goodnight.

The whole situation was too awkward, in Zelena’s opinion. She did not know this new persona that her sister had adopted. She would sometimes catch some of the Evil Queen’s anger or the young Regina’s shyness, but neither of those emotions stayed very long. She did not have the slightest idea what to expect or how to act. And believing her generous behaviour could be genuine was clearly out of question.

She sat down on the floor thinking for a really long time. Just about an hour after the brunette was gone, she had heard her footsteps coming to a stop near the — _her_?— door. In the end, however, the high heels had resumed their clicking, going away. Then, she had heard that Regina’s door clicked shut and Zelena had leant her head back until it touched the side of the bed, allowing herself to savour the quiet.

As with plenty of other things lately, she did not know the reason why, after having had ice cream with her sister, she had not stood sitting on the bed anymore. She had not even had a chance to pull back the duvet and see the sheets, although she already guessed it would be as comfortable and soft as the rest of it. In truth, it was a nice room. The nicest room she had ever had, actually. And it had been given to her by the person she loathed most. Perhaps that was why or perhaps it was because Regina dared look disappointed in her sometimes or because she did not want the room at all. Ultimately, she only knew that the place where she fit in best was the floor. And so, there she was.

However, the floor was carpeted and it did not feel cold at all. It did not keep company to Zelena’s own cold —because she felt terribly cold on the inside. Dread had suddenly got a vicious grip on her heart as well. At first, it was only a tear. She tried to shut her eyes tightly, but another followed shortly after. Her own sobs were the last thing she heard before falling asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments make my day!


	5. Chapter Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I almost thought I wouldn't get this chapter edited in time to update today.  
> We finally get some action with all the Mills. As always, please enjoy and leave a comment!

The following morning was equally awkward. Trying to test Regina’s reaction once again, Zelena chose to ignore her call for breakfast coming from downstairs. After a couple of unanswered attempts, she was ignored in return, as the brunette did not even bother to come in that time. Just as the former witch congratulated herself for having been right —her prison might be more luxurious than necessary, but she was expected to do Regina’s bidding all the same or else—, a tray was brought up to her room, together with a couple of books. She had no clue why that felt worse. She should be relieved that her allegedly righteous sister hardly tried to engage her in conversation before getting out, not bothered. And yet, hunger did not overtake that odd icy resentment until breakfast went cold.

She knew it was utterly childish, both getting upset and refusing to eat, but she could not bring herself to care. It would not matter whether she decided to change her attitude or not, for she was still waiting for the other shoe to drop. For that moment when Regina would stop playing nice and Zelena would finally find out what the Queen really wanted from her. If the brunette’s earlier indifference was any indication, that time may already have come. The prospect made her take a deep breath, willing herself to stay calm. Although she firmly believed that the charade would end sooner or later, she had not thought it would be so soon.

All of a sudden, it occurred to her that she could take the tray back to the kitchen. That way, she could see what the other woman was up to. Just as she had taken a hold of the door handle, though, the main door clicked open. A young voice called for his mother at once, freezing the redhead on the spot. She barely knew the boy and it had never crossed her mind that he could be staying in the mansion as well. It made no sense, unless the Evil Queen did not care for her offspring that much —Zelena had watched her sister, though, and knew she fell on the overprotective side. She wondered whether the child —Henry, his name was Henry, after his dead grandfather— was even aware of her presence in the house.

She swallowed down and let all thoughts about wandering uninvited vanish from her mind. She did not feel ready for whatever confrontation Regina had set up. Slowly, she put the tray back on the night table and looked around. She did not have the slightest idea what to do next.

* * *

“What’s wrong, Mom?”

“Uh?” A little taken aback, Regina looked up from her coffee on the table. “Nothing’s wrong. Why do you ask?”

“You’re very quiet. You don’t seem happy,” he clarified.

“Henry, you’re here. Of course I’m happy,” was her swift reply.

She did not really know what he was aiming at with his questions, but reached out and took his hand to reassure him nevertheless. The smile he gave her back could easily light up her entire world, of that Regina was sure. He sobered up rather quickly, though, and kept pressing on, as relentless as both of his mothers.

“You should be happier having your sister home. You’ve told me nothing about what you guys did yesterday.”

She should have seen it coming, but she had been trying hard not to think about Zelena all morning. Sighing, she drew back her hand in order to pick up her cup and take a sip. She delighted in its warmth for a moment before answering.

“I’m just beginning to think that it wasn’t the greatest idea after all.”

“Why not?”

Henry’s face was very serious and solemnity was an odd sight on his still childlike face. As usual, he wanted to understand everything so that he could help. Regina felt her heart swell because her little prince was growing far faster than she was ready for.

“It’s complicated. She and I don’t get along very much, I’m afraid.”

He rolled his eyes at his mother’s dry sarcasm, getting in return a smirk from her.

“It’s not even been a whole day. You just need some time to talk. You’ll get along better eventually, you’ll see.”

Her smile was a bit strained —the cynical smirk still tugging at her lips—, but her voice was honest when she replied, “Thanks, sweetheart.” In truth, she could not say anything else.

As they finished their drinks and their talk, they got up. Although it had been too late for a proper breakfast, she had indulged in some hot cocoa. On second thought, she should have asked Zelena whether she would rather have coffee or tea for breakfast, instead of just going for the former. She would not be too surprised if she found out the redhead favoured hot chocolate, since temper tantrums were already on the menu. She started to tidy up the kitchen, thinking of how she needed to go upstairs and collect the tray from the upstairs bedroom. That led to another issue that had to be addressed at once. She turned around, her mouth already open to speak and catch her son’s attention, when she discovered he was not there. Panic kicked in straight away and it mattered little that he appeared at the kitchen door before she could call him out loud. Anxiety kept its hold on her heart for a little while longer anyway.

“Hey, Mom,” he said casually, not realising the distressed reaction his absence had caused. “I was thinking that maybe I could go and see her. I might get her coming downstairs.”

“Not a chance, Henry,” she retorted, a bit more sternly than she had meant to. “I don’t want you to go near her.”

“But, Mom—”

“She’s dangerous.”

“She’ll never change if no one gives her a chance,” he countered. “We’ve given her one, we must stick to it now.”

The earnestness in his eyes broke down Regina’s resolution. At the moment, he reminded her of Snow more than ever. They both had the same foolish blind faith. She felt extremely conflicted. Her son’s safety remained her top priority, but she was also aware of the importance that Snow’s support had had in her own path to redemption and really wanted Zelena to have something similar. Besides, she already had experience in forbidding Henry from seeing someone: it would only lead him to sneak around in order to see the ginger. And so, Regina was forced to make a quick decision, praying she would not regret it.

“Very well. But under one condition: you can see her as long as I’m with you. Understood?”

“Sure, Mom,” he said, beaming. And it seemed she brought light into his life, too.

* * *

When Regina went to fetch the tray, she decided to open the bedroom door after knocking, not truly waiting for permission. She found Zelena reading one of the books that had been brought earlier, apparently calm and aloof. However, the redhead gave no sign of wishing to chat and the younger woman let her be. It drove her crazy how well her sister kept a solid façade of control —until she started to scream bloody murder at her, anyway. Faced with spending time with her son, though, once again Regina could not bring herself to put any real effort to engage the other woman in conversation.

She and Henry spent the whole afternoon catching up and playing videogames. She would have liked to go out with him, maybe have lunch at Granny’s or eat some ice cream at the park, but she did not dare leave the ginger alone in the house just yet. Even though she had to admit that nothing about Zelena felt dangerous since she was stripped of her powers, it still bothered Regina to have her meet her boy. In the end, mother and son had reached a compromise: they would bring her lunch upstairs, but have dinner together the three of them later on. The brunette really hoped that her sister would not do —or say— anything foolish and so, she would not be forced to incinerate her.

Finally, the —a bit much— dreaded evening came and the former mayor took a deep breath to steady herself as she stood in front of a certain bedroom door. She knocked on it once before striding into the room, feigning more confidence than she truly felt and seeking to gain the upper hand in their power game that night. The redhead had been reading, but chose to look up when she came in.

“It’s dinnertime, come on,” announced Regina. It came out harsher than she had intended and so, it ended up sounding sort of like a demand. Well, too bad, she thought.

“I’d much prefer to have dinner brought here,” was the snappy comeback.

“I’m not your maid. Besides, it’s already been agreed you’d have dinner with us.”

There was a moment filled with a deep dense silence.

“... Us?”

Regina’s eyes went slightly wide to match her disbelief at the question, because something had suddenly changed in Zelena, whose intense blue eyes were no longer cold, but insecure. It was not enough to elicit pity from the brunette, though. It would not be well received, anyway.

“Yes, Henry and me,” she clarified dryly and, for some reason, thought that mocking would be more accepted by the other woman. “Don’t pretend you haven’t heard him while you were hiding away.”

Indeed, the caustic reply had the desired effect.

“I wasn’t hiding!” Zelena protested right away. A faint blush spread across her cheeks due to her outburst and she muttered, “I heard him. I just thought he’d already be gone.”

“Well, he’s not. C’mon,” Regina repeated.

Still, her sister did not move an inch.

“I... How on earth are you letting me anywhere near him?”

She was stalling and they both knew.

“Because I’ll be there, too. And so help me, Zelena, if you do as much as say something hurtful to him, the mental ward will be a more suitable place for you.”

Flashes of spending the rest of her life in such a creepy and poor illuminated place surely crossed the ginger’s mind, because she actually flinched ever so slightly. At once, she noticed and schooled her features. Yet, the mask had cracked and Regina could not help softening a little.

“Let’s go, sis. Dinner’s going to get cold.”

At last, she managed to get the older woman to follow her out of her room, reluctantly as it was. The brunette probably owed it to their stupid shared pride, since refusing to go would have been seen as a sign of weakness.

When they got downstairs, Henry had just set the table. He gave his mother a hesitant smile, whereas Zelena only received a very thoughtful look. The ginger may have fixed a glare on him at any other time, but she was currently busy trying to hide her own unease. It was a fairly poor attempt, although the boy could have missed it if only he were not so used to trying to read his own mother.

Dinner started as tense as it could have been expected. However, at some point, Regina and Henry began to talk about his studies and, suddenly, he was directly addressing the redhead to ask her out of the blue, “Did you have schools there? Or private tutors or something like that?”

Zelena’s eyes went wide and she opened and shut her mouth like a fish out of water. The brunette might have smirked at her dramatic antics had the situation been more relaxed. Her sister would not have seen her anyway, since she had her gaze fixed on her son.

“There?” she finally managed to mutter.

Regina guessed it was not just lack of understanding what prompted the tentative question. Zelena looked like she could not wrap her mind around the fact that he had asked her at all.

“Yeah. There, in Oz,” clarified Henry.

He was trying to appear nonchalant, but doubt was quickly creeping up in his voice. It urged Regina to cut in straight away.

“Schools aren’t a common occurrence in other worlds, honey. I had tutors myself.”

“Well, I didn’t,” her sister snapped unexpectedly, her previous hesitation already forgotten. Hearing the bitterness in her voice clear as a bell, the brunette immediately regretted having brought up her past. “Those who weren’t well off lacked many opportunities,” Zelena went on.

Regina had thought of telling a silly story about dying of boredom at some lessons, even skipping them to ride on more than one occasion. If one left out Cora’s subsequent punishments, those anecdotes could have lifted the current mood at the table. Instead, it seemed she had only given the redhead an excuse to sour it further.

Pleasantries were definitively over when Regina snapped back harshly.

“Well, now we’re here, where everyone can have equal opportunities. Stop wallowing.”

For a long tense moment, Zelena looked her in the eye as if she wanted to kill her on the spot —which was probably the case. Eventually, she got up, still glaring down at the brunette

“I’ve lost my appetite. I’m going upstairs.”

Since their conversation had quickly been reduced to murderous looks, Regina was not about to stop her. When Henry intervened before Zelena could leave, his mother honestly believed hell was going to break loose.

“You shouldn’t. Getting up from the table before everyone has finished eating is really rude. Besides, I’d thought we could play some videogames before I go.”

No one was more surprised than Regina when his calm, ordinary words had an extraordinary effect. He had spoken as if it was a common thing for him to suggest to his aunt and not a way to pacify an irascible prisoner. His words took a second or two to register, but as they did, Zelena’s wrath deflated almost at once, like a soap bubble suddenly exploding.

“W— What? But I...” She might have realised how openly she had just hesitated in front of a twelve-year-old boy, because she hurried to correct herself. “I don’t know how to play your childish games, nor am I interested in learning.”

However, her cold façade did not frighten Henry that time. In fact, it was the ginger who had an iron grip on the back of her chair. He did throw one last dubious glance at his mother before seemingly making up his mind.

“I could show you, anyway.”


	6. Chapter Five

Zelena had not been persuaded to accept his invitation, but at least she had sat again and the three of them could finish their dinner in a silent, surreal calm. Regina had hesitated about whether to send Henry or not, but she had finally gone to the kitchen and retrieved the desserts herself. She had got them as fast as she could without actually using magic and her apprehension had not been lost on the ginger, who had managed a lifted eyebrow and a smug expression in spite of her rigid semblance.

When the last course was finally over, the sisters engaged in a staring contest that Zelena broke by getting up wordlessly and leaving the room. All in all, it went as well as Regina had hoped for.

Henry let out a sigh, though, and his mother offered him a small sympathetic smile.

“I’d thought that maybe... If she felt welcome, she’d take the chance.”

“Things are a little complicated, but you did well. Give it time and we shall see.”

They both got up from the table as well and started carrying dishes to the kitchen.

“Will you be okay tonight? I... I’m sorry, Mom, but I don’t trust her.”

“Neither do I.”

Her straightforward reply made him frown.

“You don’t?”

“No, of course not. She put all our lives in danger just a couple of days ago. I didn’t even want you near her.”

“Then, why have her move here? Why not leave her in the sheriff’s station for a while longer?”

“Because, honey, she wasn’t going to improve on her own —you’ve said that yourself. She’d only have felt even more abandoned.” Regina swallowed, forcing the words out of her mouth. “And I don’t want that.”

Henry marvelled at how, sometimes, for the briefest of moments, all the confidence and bravado of his mother would crumble, leaving in its place a still very heartbroken human being. Yet, it was not a pretty sight, so he stepped closer, determined to make her sadness go away.

“It’s okay, Mom,” he said, relishing the possibility of being able to hug her once more. He had missed her, even when he had not remembered their life together. “Everything will work out. You’re a hero now.”

Regina made a face at that but said nothing in favour of losing herself in their embrace. He knew she did not like that word, but he still enjoyed telling her all the same. And she did not really mind that much if it was him who said it.

* * *

A couple of hours later, already at his grandparents’ apartment, Henry spent a long time wondering about Zelena and second chances in general. The Wicked Witch had led to Neal’s death and, even if they had barely got time together, he felt he should stay loyal towards his biological father. Yet, she was his mother’s sister, so she was also part of their family —the irony of it was not lost on him, because, despite his many relatives, the redhead was the only aunt he had. And they did not give up on family easily. Snow White had taught all of them that. She had offered several second chances to her stepmother. It had taken many years and plenty of pain, but there in Storybrooke, they had finally become a family once again. He knew his mother wanted to offer Zelena the same. He knew redemption was possible. And still...

And still, Henry felt no forgiveness towards his aunt. He just wanted his mother to be happy —they deserved to go back to happier times, like all heroes did at the end of the stories. They also had forgiveness on the inside, though.  They helped everyone, including bad people, vanquishing the threat only if it persisted. Reflecting on the issue from the viewpoint of storybook characters did not help. Was he a bad person for not wanting to forgive Zelena? Would he be a bad person for forgiving her despite all she had done? Did forgiving his mother and not his aunt make him less good of a person?

All those questions kept hammering in his head until sleep finally took him. The only conclusion he reached was that no one was pressing him for answers, so he could take his time to figure them out. He clung to one thought before falling asleep: a hero did not leave the battlefield until the fight was over.

* * *

She was not even going to check in on Zelena before going to bed. She was not. Regina was thinking about her fleeting meeting with Robin —as it was late and he had had to go back to his boy— when she walked past the closed door. She froze in the middle of the corridor and was not able to stop the thoughts about whether the other woman was already asleep or her demons kept her awake at night, like Regina’s did more often than not. She rapped on the door softly and, to her surprise, her sister opened it shortly after.

“What do you want?”

Despite her hostile tone, the brunette almost dared guess that Zelena wanted to talk, however unwilling she might be to admit it. There was no other explanation for her opening the door instead of pretending to be asleep. Regina decided she would take her victories whenever she could and strode in past the redhead.

“I was just heading to bed—”

“And you thought of saying goodnight? How sweet of you, little sis,” Zelena cut her off, biting down on the last two words.

All right, maybe her sister just wanted somebody to argue with.

“Do you need anything?” Regina replied in return, curtly but making an effort not to snap.

She only received a half-hearted smirk that seemed to ask, ‘What could I possibly need? Maybe my magic? Or my freedom?’ The redhead said nothing for a long moment, walking across the room to the window. When she finally spoke, she was not looking at the brunette.

“Your boy clearly gets his manners from the side of his real mother, doesn’t he?”

‘Henry is my son as much as Emma’s,’ was Regina’s first thought, but then a suspicion arose in her mind. Why say Henry was her boy but refer to Emma as his real mother? It was probably just a slip of tongue in her attempt at provocation. In any case, she decided to take a subtler path to find out.

“Where does this sudden interest in my son come from?”

“Well,” Zelena began to elaborate without much enthusiasm, still gazing away, “he was raised by the Evil Queen and is the Saviour’s son, but he doesn’t seem very... powerful. I’m just wondering what the Evil Queen would want a useless tool for.”

The brunette may have been holding back her temper around her sister, trying to be empathetic and as patient as she could with her, but she was not going to tolerate any slights towards Henry.

“Careful, Zelena. The Evil Queen might make an appearance and rip your heart out if you don’t watch your mouth talking about _my son_.”

The redhead hardly looked unsettled by the threat, but had the good sense to stop antagonising Regina for the time being.

“You really love that boy, don’t you?” Her voice was so controlled, so thoughtfully void of emotion that it did not seem real.

Something was very off about that question and she was starting to get an idea of why.

“Of course I do. He’s my son. It doesn’t matter who gave him birth.” She should have stopped at that point, because surely Zelena had not meant for her sister to figure out which answer she was really seeking. And yet, Regina’s next words were already out, sharper than she had intended them to be, for honesty was still difficult at times. “I’m sorry you weren’t luckier with your adoptive family, but—”

“Cora should’ve been my mother!”

At the angry shout, the Queen’s temper flared up at once.

“You have no idea of how she was!”

“Well, maybe I would’ve liked to know!” the redhead yelled back even louder.

“Well, maybe then I wish you had known and spared me of her!”

The brunette closed her eyes, having had enough of their shouting contest and turned around. She exited the room trying not to slam the door —with little success. Already in the dark corridor, she flinched, as she usually did at loud noises.

* * *

After Regina had left, Zelena had remained standing on the spot, replaying the look of horror that had crossed the younger woman’s face for less than a second. Had it been for the realisation of her own words? Perhaps of the entire argument? The possibility alone made her want to stay up until she figured out a satisfactory answer, since there was no reason for Regina to be bothered by anything she had said. Yet, the ginger was more exhausted than she had realised and so, she dropped on the bed and finally got some sleep that night.

In the morning, Zelena surprised Regina by coming down while the latter was still making breakfast. The redhead did not let herself stand at the door and she strode in the kitchen mustering as much confidence as she could.

“Good morning,” was the neutral greeting she received.

“Morning,” she mumbled back.

“Coffee or tea?”

“Tea, I suppose.”

Zelena felt anxiety creeping up on her. She was starting to regret having come down at all. Actually, she could find no reason why she had.

“Okay,” Regina replied, not noticing her distress. “The kettle’s there, it just boiled. And in that cupboard there are some different kinds of tea. Help yourself.”

The brunette was very deliberately paying her no attention, focusing on what was in the frying pan instead. Zelena almost lost it then and ran away from that unnerving silence and only her pride kept her feet glued to the floor. After several painful seconds, she was able to move again and began to prepare her tea. Her sister did not make a single comment in the meanwhile and the tightness in her chest did not disappear.

For a moment, the redhead considered the possibility that Regina was just making her own breakfast. That would be mortifying, besides leaving her pretty hungry. All doubts faded away when the former mayor began to put food on two plates, though, and Zelena felt herself breathe a bit more easily. The plates were set down on the table and the brunette poured some coffee for herself in a mug. She sat on a chair and was quickly followed by her sister. The redhead was visibly stiff, but she would hate to think that Regina had taken pity on her when she decided to break the silence.

“I’m sorry for what I said last night. It was cruel.”

“Cruel?” she asked incredulously, trying to find the hidden mockery in the apology. However, brown eyes met her blue ones steadily, as if they had nothing to conceal.

“Yes. The fact that you didn’t get to meet Mother isn’t actually your fault and it doesn’t excuse my behaviour. You must bear the guilt of many acts, Zelena, but not this. You just can’t know, but I do and so, I know that what I said —that damn wish— was indeed terrible.”

She was rendered speechless. The brunette’s honesty was obvious, if her awkwardness was any proof of it. In addition, it was also all over her face, in her eyes and in her words. She had no clue about what she was supposed to make of that, though, or even what she needed to reply. Suddenly, her sister seemed to read her mind, because she continued talking.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to answer. I just wanted you to know.”

Zelena looked down and gave her a curt nod in acknowledgment, starting to eat her breakfast. She would discover what Regina was really up to eventually. Then, everything would make sense.

She was half listening to the brunette’s plans for the day when certain information drew her attention. All of a sudden, she lost any interest in waiting for Regina to show her true colours. When she knew she would be alone for the afternoon, Zelena saw her chance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops, here comes the Witch...  
> Also, fun fact: I think this is the only chapter of the series featuring Henry's point of view.  
> Don't hesitate to let me know what you think!


	7. Chapter Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We get to meet a new character! Hope you like it.

Before going out for lunch, Regina had told her sister where the food was stored in the kitchen and so, it seemed the brunette expected her prisoner to wander around the house in her absence. Yet, Zelena waited for her to get out before even going downstairs. Then, she spent another hour idly exploring the mansion, not wanting to risk being caught because the other woman was back right after lunch. Once she was quite convinced that Regina would not be returning to her house any time soon, she began the real attempt to escape.

She knew it would not be easy. Thus, she did not let herself become very disappointed when an invisible wall stopped her from going out to the garden. She stood there for a long time, thinking of some spot where Regina could have failed to cast her magical barrier. It was highly improbable she had forgotten any window or door on the ground floor, where most of their family time was spent, but maybe some window in an upstairs room that was barely used...

Without her permission, a different question sneaked into her thoughts, filling her with dread: where would she go afterwards?

“Anywhere but here,” she muttered through gritted teeth.

She clenched her fists, feeling the familiar anger. It hardly mattered where she would go once she got out of Regina’s house. There were ways of going back to magic lands, even from a land without magic.

Anywhere would be better than there and she would remind herself of it as many times as necessary. She was powerless, but smart, and she would figure out a way. She always did. She just needed to get out of that town, where she had no allies —and out of that house, where Regina said she was safe, but all Zelena heard was that she was at her mercy.

She walked up and down the house, searching every room except for Regina’s and what she could only assume must have been Henry’s. Both of them were locked with magic, so she could not really do anynothing there. She also searched for magical items, but found none. She was starting to get desperate.

The last room she searched was on the first floor. The redhead stood at the door, deep in thought. Although it was small and mostly empty, it still had a small window. She opened it and took in the nice breeze that blew through. Nevertheless, when her fingers darted out, they came into contact with the solid barrier. Instead of drawing back her hand angrily like the other times, on this occasion she delighted in the magic running beyond her fingertips. It was light magic. It was warm and refreshing at the same time, like a caress or a compliment. It reminded her of a magic lost long ago in favour of something more powerful —more wicked.

She tried to connect with her innate magic through it. Of course, how had the thought not crossed her mind before? A connection might work and it was well worth a try. And she was in an apparently useless room whose window looked out onto the back of the house. It was perfect.

She worked slowly, trying to recover the lost connection with her purest magic. However, it was easier said than done. Regina’s magic was quite strong —if she had had her true power, it would have meant no threat at all, but hers was... well, somewhere between hesitant and nonexistent. In addition, she was very aware that the brunette could return at any time.

And then, all at once, her careful efforts were proved to be in vain.

There was a shout and the whole barrier shook, reacting against Zelena and throwing her back. She let out a painful gasp —the tips of her fingers were burnt and it hurt. Her concerned look at her hand changed into one of gratifying surprise when she noticed that, for a moment, she had been able to feel her own magic. The feeling had been fleeting and weak and was lost already, but it had been there and it gave her renewed hope. Right after that, she wondered if it had been her who had set off the magical wall. She had been extremely careful not to. All those thoughts flew through her mind in a matter of seconds, but she had no time to think beyond that.

An explosion echoed off the walls and a faint tremble reached her. The colour drained from her face. Was she under attack? She supposed someone must have thrown an object against the house —that had set off the barrier. And, as the magic had stopped it from penetrating, it had exploded outside.

Not knowing where else to go, she ran to her room —to the room her sister let her have, she reminded herself once again. She looked out the window and saw a lot of smoke at the front of the house. Had the explosion caused a fire? Gulping, she frantically looked for flames. Luckily, she saw nothing but black smoke. It also seemed there was no one around.

She stood there for some long moments, paralysed, until a persistent pounding on the front door interrupted her train of thought. She tried to swallow down her anxiety while whoever it was kept knocking. It finally stopped when a female voice cried out.

“Regina? Zelena? Is there somebody home? Are you okay? Open the door! Or answer, damn it!”

* * *

Eventually, the pounding stopped. Zelena just remained in her room, very still, trying to process what was going on. She did not have much time for it, though, because less than five minutes since the shouting had stopped, she heard the door being opened anyway. She stiffened, picturing several case scenarios in her head. However, once she recognised Regina’s footsteps coming upstairs, tension left her body. She clenched her jaw at the realisation. Since when was that woman’s presence not a threat?

“Zelena!”

The brunette burst in her room, not bothering to knock. It was difficult to say whether her voice held anger or mere irritation. Behind her, there was a blonde woman the former witch had never seen. She guessed it was the person who had been yelling before.

“Something the matter, sis?” she asked, hardly trying to hide her own contempt under a mask of feigned boredom.

“What the hell happened?”

“Why would I know?” she snapped back at the question, matching her sister’s tone right away.

“Regina,” the blonde woman cut in, “I don’t think she’s had anything to do with it. I’ve already told you, I saw smoke outside the house.”

That did not save the ginger from receiving another glare.

“Did you see something, then?”

“There was smoke,” she agreed idly.

She might have got used to Regina’s new peaceful nature too fast, because she was startled when the brunette moved forward and grabbed her wrist tightly. Narrowed brown eyes stared at her and Zelena steeled herself for another couple of threats. Yet, they never came, because the blonde was by their side the next moment, putting a calm hand on her sister’s arm and giving her no time.

“Regina,” she said, soothingly, “it’s okay. She’s okay.”

Zelena had no idea why that snapped the brunette out of it, but Regina let her go. She rubbed her wrist, more for show than anything else, and, too late, realised that she had forgotten about the burns. Regina caught her hand again and, even though her grip tightened when the redhead tried to free herself, it was gentler that time.

“What’s this?”

“Nothing,” she replied, trying to tug her hand away to no avail.

“Your fingers are burned. But the explosion didn’t reach you, did it? What happened?”

Eventually, she stopped struggling, but refused to speak. When seconds passed and it became obvious that she was not going to give in, the brunette sighed and dropped her hand as she turned around.

“Tink, can you go downstairs and call David and Emma? They’ll want to take a look at what exploded.”

The woman, Tink, nodded and, with a last glance in Zelena’s direction, went out of the room. Regina barely waited to break the silence.

“Can we at least sit down?”

The ginger acquiesced with a nod, suddenly feeling exhausted. She did not miss the fact that her sister looked as tired as her. She sat down on the bed, but Regina stopped midway to the chair. She moved towards Zelena instead, making a vague gesture towards her hand.

“May I heal it? Healing spells aren’t my strong suit, but since I have this new magic... I can try.”

“You do inspire confidence, sis,” she scoffed. “It’s nothing.”

The brunette bit her lip and Zelena could not help wondering why she looked so nervous. There was nothing the redhead should be nervous about, let alone her jailer. It seemed neither Regina nor her friend really believed she had something to do with the recent events, so she could breathe easily for the time being. She had expected an interrogation nevertheless, more so since the former Queen had sent Tink downstairs. Yet, the questioning had apparently been dropped in favour of focusing on a non-life threatening injury.

“Okay, I don’t have to.” Regina’s voice, carefully void of emotion, shook her out of her thoughts. “I have a first aid kit. I’m going to get a burn balm, all right?”

Thankfully, she did not seem to be waiting for an answer, because she left anyway despite receiving no answer. She came back shortly after, carrying a tube that the redhead guessed contained the balm. It was handed out to her without hesitation.

“You just have to squeeze a little and the balm will come out.”

“I know how cream tubes work,” Zelena snapped, even though the instructions were not completely useless, as she had not been in this world long enough to try out everything, let alone mundane medicine.

“Very well,” said Regina, probably not willing to engage in a fight over something so silly. She waited patiently for the redhead to finish and the latter handed back the tube when she was done.

“Aren’t you going to ask me how I got the burns?” she asked when the other woman did not add anything else for an uncomfortably long moment. She was unsure of what was happening.

“Are you going to tell me?” her sister calmly asked back as she put on the cap.

“No,” replied Zelena at once, defiantly.

“Then, I’m not wasting my time,” was Regina’s answer before exiting the room.

Once she was alone, the redhead allowed herself to drop the mask and gape openly. While the brunette had gone in search of the burn balm, Zelena had been positive that her sister had a plan, showing interest in healing her only because she expected to gain her trust through kindness and, later on, get the truth out of her. However, Regina had not even asked twice. She had supplied her with a balm that had eased the burning sensation almost immediately and, then, she had got out as if everything was solved. Nothing was, though.

The redhead looked down at her hands, fighting the impulse of closing them into fists out of frustration. No matter how painful the burns were, she would never accept another’s magic —she should have gone truly crazy to trust the Evil Queen or anyone else that way. She had wanted to see Regina’s anger, though, once she had given Zelena the balm and the redhead still refused to tell her anything. And yet, once again, her younger sister had got the upper hand.


	8. Chapter Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to be away on vacation until the end of the month. I'll try to get another chapter or two up before going, but if not, see y'all in August. ;)

Zelena saw through the window how the Saviour and her father looked around the place, collecting what surely was evidence. Regina and her other blonde friend were there, too, watching them —the brunette did not seem in the mood to talk at the moment, though. When the ‘heroic’ family left, Tink did not go with them, instead getting back into the house with Regina.

Against her best judgement, Zelena opened her bedroom door and walked out to the corridor. She would deny having gone to eavesdrop, but it was exactly what she was doing. It seemed that the possibility had not crossed either Regina’s or Tink’s mind, because they stopped in the hall for a bit, talking without bothering to lower their voices.

“I guess they were just some thugs taking advantage of the fact that the Evil Queen’s gone soft. Besides, the barrier worked perfectly, so I suppose I have nothing to worry about, but...” the brunette trailed off, putting an end to what clearly was a nervous rambling.

“You’re right. There’s been no real damage.”

“Yes, but—”

“And I do think whoever it was had no true intention of hurting anyone,” Tink cut her off. “That said, it doesn’t mean you don’t have the right to be upset. It’s normal you’re still thinking of the worst-case scenarios.”

“It’s just... What could I do?” Her sister’s voice became so low at the end that Zelena wondered whether she had imagined the question after all.

“You can do no more than what you’ve already done.” Tink’s voice, however, was comforting and full of confidence. She could even picture the petite blonde putting a reassuring hand on Regina’s arm. The mere thought made her blood boil with jealousy, even though she had no interest whatsoever in babbling idiots such as the fairy.

The following seconds were filled with silence and, eventually, broken by a sigh.

“I should go make dinner. Why don’t you stay and eat with us?”

“You sure?”

Regina must have nodded, because they headed for the kitchen, their voices fading away with the distance. The show was over and Zelena went back to her room.

* * *

Tink helped her with dinner, showing her usual enthusiasm for new things. Of all the people who had come to Storybrooke with the second curse, she was adapting the best to the technology, clothing and customs of their new world. Not for the first time that day, Regina felt very grateful that it had been her who was walking by and saw the smoke. She had taken control of the situation quickly, calling her friend when no one had opened the door. The brunette had barely stuttered out an explanation to the Charmings and Henry before heading out of Granny’s. It was actually Emma who reminded her she could just puff herself home, getting there at once. Thus, she was as grateful for Tink’s adaptation to the modernity of that world as she was for Emma’s final acceptance of magic.

“So, how’s Zelena doing?” the blonde asked, putting her out of her thoughts.

They were both sitting down as the chicken baked in the oven.

“Wonderfully,” she scoffed. “Haven’t you seen?”

“I’ve just seen a very defensive woman not reacting well to another equally nervous,” said Tink, answering her sarcasm with naked honesty.

Regina threw a glare in her direction, but it held no real heat. She knew her friend was only saying what she thought, as she always did.

“Zelena doesn’t want to accept any help. That much is clear,” she stated and, that time, her words mostly held resignation. “And I don’t exactly know how to help her, either. So, not great.”

“This is not your fault, Regina. You’re doing your best.”

“Then, I just wish I knew how to do _better_.”

“I really think she’ll come around eventually,” the fairy said confidently, reaching out for her friend’s hand.

“I get enough hope talks from Snow already, thanks,” she replied dryly, but let their fingers intertwine. Truthfully, she was surrounded by incurable optimists and, as exhausting as it could get sometimes, she would not have it any other way.

The other woman chuckled and shook her head softly.

“Thank you,” Regina said suddenly, giving a squeeze to Tink’s hand, “for being a friend.”

Maybe she received an ‘Anytime’ or an ‘Of course’ back, but what really made her heart swell was the radiant smile directed at _her_.

Later on, that night’s dinner became the most awkward of all the ones that the sisters had had together, though at least the ginger had come down without complaint. The blonde had soon desisted from her attempts at happy chatter, so they had eaten in a dense silence, only broken from time to time by questions and answers between Regina and Tinkerbell.

Once Zelena had finished, she had left the table with a snarky comment about the food and the company. Her blank face did not let anything show, but she may have been disappointed when it was only met with a shared look between the two other women. Refusing to let her departure sour their mood, they started to clean up the table without hurry, catching up all the while.

Little did Regina know that Zelena lay on her bed at the moment, thinking about the day’s events as she ignored on purpose everything related to her younger sister. Instead, she chose to focus on the possibility of breaking the magical barrier. She was sure that, should she have enough time, she would be able to get through it safely. In any case, escaping from there was well worth a few burns. She fell asleep with a smile on her face, even though her heart did not feel any less heavy.

* * *

Her plan of running away was frustrated when, the following day, Regina stayed at home, so the redhead mostly remained in her room, unbothered. The thief, Robin Hood, had dropped by early in the morning and so, Zelena had decided to skip breakfast —even though her sister had insisted on making a tray with tea and fruit appear out of nowhere on her night table. She thought that, perhaps, if her presence was less noticeable, the brunette would loosen up a bit and go out with her boyfriend. However, it seemed that she had planned something quite different.

That morning, Regina had woken up to a message from Snow asking her to call her as soon as possible. She did, worried that something serious would have happened. She had been taken aback when, without much preamble, the stressed new mother announced that she did not wish to continue in her post as Mayor once her maternity leave was over. Snow loved her job as a teacher and had almost begged Regina to retake the mayor’s position. At the beginning, she had been so shocked that she had hardly managed to give an answer. She had learnt to love her job decades ago, but she was unsure of how the townspeople would feel about the news. They had finally agreed on Regina taking the job for the time being, until Storybrooke held elections within a year.

Once that had been cleared up, they had changed the subject, moving on a bit awkwardly to the topic of family on both sides. How’s Henry, have Emma and David found something of interest already... Snow had even managed to convince Regina of coming over for dinner some evening that week. The newly restored mayor had just hung up when someone knocked on the front door.

It had been Robin, who had thought of bringing breakfast by surprise, since he had missed spending time with her as much as she had. She had related the events of the previous day, as well as the reason why she was so unwilling to leave the house ―and, therefore, Zelena― alone at that point. He had nodded gravely, understanding the situation. As the redhead refused to come down for breakfast, they had spent the time talking between kisses and caresses until it was time for lunch. It was then that Regina had decided to put an end to her sister’s reclusion.

She left Robin making a fruit salad and some sandwiches while she went upstairs. She knocked on the door, but opened it anyway when she received no answer from the other side. The ginger was sitting on the window bench, reading seemingly unperturbed. Regina held back a sigh.

“C’mon, we’re having lunch with Robin today.”

She earned a sceptic look in her direction.

“You mean you’re having lunch with him. I’ve got no interest in your hooded thief,” said Zelena, her eyebrows going even more up.

“That’s enough,” the brunette retorted sternly. She was honestly tired of her sister acting as if she was in control there. “You’re coming down with me and that’s it. There’ll be no more meals brought to you. This isn’t a hotel, Zelena, and you have to start doing your bit here.”

It was everything that the other woman needed to lose it.

“I’m not going to do my bit! I don’t want to!” she yelled, getting on her feet. “I’m not going to take your rubbish second chance. When will you learn it?”

Regina felt the familiar rush of anger as well and was not able to restrain it completely.

“Oh, so would you have preferred to die at Rumplestiltskin’s hands?”

Zelena opened her mouth to reply, but her sister would never know what she was going to say, because Robin showed up at the door right then. With all the shouting, neither of the women had heard his hurried footsteps climbing up the stairs.

“What’s going on?” he asked, looking worriedly between them.

“Oh, look who’s—”

“Shut up,” the brunette growled, effectively cutting her off. Then, she turned to Robin. “Nothing’s going on. You didn’t have to come, we’ll be downstairs in a moment.”

“Are you planning on dragging me out, sis?” came Zelena’s petulant question. She did not even bother to hide a smile full of satisfaction. She was enjoying all the trouble.

Regina rounded on her, ready to lash out again, but was stopped by Robin’s hand on her arm. When she looked up at him, his eyes seemed to be telling her, ‘You should calm down before going on dealing with her.’ She knew he was right, so she let his calming presence surround her. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she kept her face towards the leader of the Merry Men for a few more seconds. Once she was certain of being able to control her voice, she turned towards Zelena.

“Very well. You want your meals delivered in, don’t you?” Her sister’s smug expression was still infuriating and so, she could not help a last scalding remark. “Anything to please my prisoner.”

Regina had turned around before finishing her last sentence. Even angry, she had no wish to see the redhead’s facial response as she and Robin got out of the room.

By a mutual, silent agreement, they both skipped lunch that afternoon. Robin wanted to cheer her up, to offer her his support, but right after they had sat down on the sofa, Regina looked down at their intertwined hands and burst into tears. All her fears, her insecurities and all those other emotions she had barely put on words with others slipped free together with her tears. She just could not stop crying. She did not have to, though. Immediately, his arms enveloped her. He said nothing. She was grieving for a whole life —hers— and there were no words that could make it easier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know a lot of these chapters are from Regina's point of view. I'm open to suggestions if anyone wants to read an extended scene or a scene from another point of view. I'd add it to my one-shot collection [_Imagine If..._](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19465270/chapters/46332739) ;) Anyway, hope you're enjoying!


	9. Chapter Eight

Zelena already knew she was a prisoner in that house —hence her determination to escape. And still, the remark had stung. She paced up and down the bedroom, awaiting punishment for not having attended lunch with the former Queen and her boyfriend. Said punishment did not come, though. Neither did her sister. Hours passed and just a tray with an early dinner appeared on the vanity, leaving behind the familiar scent of magic. The tray disappeared at midnight, together with the one containing the forgotten breakfast of that morning, both untouched.

Regina must have been really furious, Zelena thought, and that only steeled her purpose. She would escape at the next chance she had.

The brunette did not come to her room the following day, either, but the redhead chose to eat that morning and she did so again at midday. She was determined to gather all her strength in order not to waste her next opportunity. She figured out she would be alone for a while when dinner appeared early once more and, shortly after, she heard the front door open and close. Regina must have gone to have dinner with someone. The real reason was irrelevant, though. It only mattered that she was on her own in the house.

She felt the urge to put her plan in motion straight away, but she was aware of the risk of being discovered if her sister came back because she had forgotten something. And so, she forced herself to eat calmly, emptying the tray before heading for the bedroom door. Another unpleasant surprise awaited her, as she found out the door was locked when she tried to open it. She tried again, using all her strength to no avail. As it remained shut, she let out her frustration in a cry and a kick. Regina had surely placed a charm on her door after the events of the previous day. Zelena could try to knock it down, but she knew it would be useless. Brute strength could never beat magic.

She would have to get out through the window in the bedroom. It was on the first floor and looked to the front of the house —definitely not ideal, but still, her only choice.

She opened the window and felt the familiar presence of her sister’s protection spell. Zelena focused on it, as she had done the other time, but no magic came to her. She tried harder, cursing Regina through gritted teeth. Again, she felt nothing new. It might have been ten minutes before she realised what was failing. She needed to find her purest, most basic magic for the task at hand. Her power had been bound to her lost pendant, which was now lying somewhere uselessly, containing a lifetime of magic. Yet, a trace of her innate magic had to remain deep inside her. One she would never reach if she kept focusing on how much she despised the other woman. Breathing deeply a couple of times, she allowed herself a few minutes to calm down before resuming her efforts.

It was not easy, but little by little her magic rose to the surface, tentatively testing the foreign one. Zelena pushed, with little result at first. She pushed harder and harder and did not stop even when she felt the barrier giving up under her pressure. She did not notice how heavy her breathing had become or the thin layer of sweat that covered her forehead. She kept trying and lost track of time, feeding on the realisation of her own strength. She was a powerful witch and Regina’s magic was no foe for her.

Despite all her encouragement, she was incapable of breaking the barrier. There was no crack, no soft vanishing into nothingness of the spell that surrounded the house. All Zelena could get was a circle-shaped breach —one that she knew would not last very long.

She finally stopped when it became obvious that she had no strength left for anything else. Even though she needed to take the chance she had got, she failed to move for a whole minute, trying to catch her breath as she looked at the night that had fallen... she did not know when. While she breathed in and out, she considered the possibility of taking something with her, but ruled it out swiftly. Nothing in there was truly hers and, besides, she had to go through the opening quickly, before it shut itself.

She climbed up into the window frame and into the breach. She knew she had to be fast, since the entire barrier would react against any foreign contact the moment the hole closed, like the day something was thrown at it and, in return, the spell threw Zelena back. However, she could not help a last glance towards her room. Irrational thoughts popped into her head, faintly trying to prevent her from going through with her plan, and she shook it to erase them. At last, she tore her eyes away and started to climb down.

It was certainly more difficult than she had expected. There were few hold points and the use of magic had weakened her greatly. They all sounded like pathetic excuses, so she forced herself to avoid those thoughts, too. She was thinking about how much she missed her broom when a sudden dizziness came over her. She desperately tightened her grip on the window sill and leaned closer to the wall. She _had_ to calm down and regain control of the situation. As she repeated those words to herself, she heard a motor car coming closer. It did not matter whether it was Regina’s car or not. If someone else saw her, they would call the mayor. She panicked and attempted to rush her climbing, but it only went from bad to worse.

She lost her footing and fell down to the ground with a yell that was soon cut off abruptly. For a moment, she felt nothing. Then, all came crashing back down on her at once. The grass had hardly softened her fall and her back hurt, as did her head. She only saw bright white and the sickening crack that had sounded in the absence of her voice registered a second later, meaning that she had broken her ankle. She could not think beyond listing where it hurt — _everywhere_ — and so, she remained lying lifelessly on Regina’s front yard.

She did not know whether the silence lasted a minute or an hour. Finally, through her pain, she also heard a voice calling her name. Immediately, she felt pressure on her arm, different from the pain that was crushing her, and another voice —or, perhaps, the same one— was talking, closer to her, assuring everything was going to be all right. For some reason, she felt the urge to laugh the voice off, but she was unable to understand why. Bit by bit, sounds and feelings became clearer, making her situation worse and better at the same time. After a few failed attempts, she managed to open her eyes, which were full of tears, and recognised the blurry shape of her nephew. At her feet, Regina crouched down. She could not reflect yet on why the position felt wrong, but it did. Her sister made eye contact with her before speaking.

“Don’t worry, I’m gonna fix it. Take a deep breath, okay?”

Zelena’s first instinct was to refuse, but before she could even think of the words, a bright light was coming out of Regina’s hands. A warm feeling tickled her feet and, despite her dread, it did not feel awful —it was a pleasant sensation, actually. However, then the light began to engulf her whole body and she lost it, remembering how powerless she was against another person’s magic.

“Shh... It’s okay.”

She panicked even further upon hearing Henry’s reassurances, because they were her enemy and they had her at their mercy and she could not even think straight... She swallowed down her thoughts, closing her eyes and waiting for it to end.

When the spell was finally over, it took Zelena just a moment to realise nowhere in her body hurt, although fear was still hard to conceal. Hesitantly, she opened her eyes, but kept her gaze down. She was trembling like a leaf and needed several deep breaths to regain her composure and put some resemblance of order in her thoughts. Henry and Regina graciously let her do so in silence —the soft pressure on her arm had already disappeared and she guessed his hands had been the source.

As she managed to calm down, the ugly truth revealed itself to her: she had been caught trying to escape. Her failure was in the open for everyone to see and she wanted nothing more than to duck her head and hope the ground would open up and swallow her. Yet, backing down was not an option and she forced herself to meet Regina’s eyes defiantly.

“Come on. No way I’m having this conversation outside,” her sister said, after holding her gaze for the shortest moment. Her attempt at sounding nonchalant was ruined by her strained, crispy response.

Regina tried to send Henry with Emma, but she was unsuccessful in that matter, too. He refused outright, though he consented to stay in the living room while the two women went upstairs. When they got into Zelena’s room, the brunette closed the door behind them. The gesture sent a shiver of dread up the redhead’s spine, until Regina made something appear on her hand surrounded by purple smoke and Zelena had other things to focus on. Before she knew what was going on, her younger sister had reached out for her right arm and slapped a black cuff on her wrist.

“How glad I’m now that I convinced Rumple to lean me this,” she said dryly. Again, she had tried for a sarcastic remark to distance herself from the talk. And again, she had failed miserably, for it came out empty and without any real bite.

“W— What...?” Zelena stuttered out before closing her mouth.

Suddenly, the redhead felt all her magic fade away. Or rather, her magic went to some place that she could not reach and she had stopped feeling any other magic that could be around as well. At once, she felt like she was suffocating. She gasped and looked at Regina, who was giving her the most pitying look she had probably ever seen. It was truly terrifying.

She no longer needed to ask. She knew what the cuff meant.

“S— Sis, do not dare...”

If the brunette’s previous attempt to remain indifferent had failed, Zelena did not even sound remotely threatening as she had wanted. Her voice broke and, for a few seconds, stopped her from going on.

“Please, don’t,” she managed at last.

It was a desperate shot and she hated herself for it, but she would not mind if having Regina’s pity also meant breathing magic again. Tears glistened in Zelena’s eyes and it was clear the other woman was fighting not to avoid her gaze. However, the brunette remained strong.

“Zelena, as much as I wish I didn’t, I have to. I’ll admit that I’ve made mistakes and that I’m not the best at this second-chance business, but there isn’t much I can do either if you keep refusing to accept my help.” There was no mockery in her words. She was extremely serious and kept her voice even. The redhead wanted to hate her more than ever, but even she could see Regina did not feel especially victorious. “Take this night to think, sis. I’ll come back in the morning to drag you out for breakfast.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! It seems I'll be quite busy in August, so updates may not be as frequent from now on. I'll try my best to keep them regular, though.  
> Your feedback motivates me to edit and upload this fic, so thank you for all the comments, kudos, bookmarks and subscriptions!


	10. Chapter Nine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Mills household. Enjoy!

Regina barely slept that night. Truth be told, sometimes she felt as if she had not had a real good night’s sleep since Henry had found out the truth about the first curse.

She had been thinking for days of how she could fix that entire situation and she had come up with nothing. She had no idea how to help her sister, but she refused to take the easy way out, backing down and forfeiting.

Maybe she should, though. Like mother, like son, Henry had also refused to leave his home and go to Emma’s for a few more days, while things calmed down. Even though there had been no chance of Zelena using her new found magic on Henry, since Regina had always been present, the witch was still dangerous and the question of how long she had had it haunted the mayor. People had made it abundantly clear that they needed no magic to hurt others.

And yet, she was not lying when she told her sister she wished she did not have to put the cuff on her. She knew very well the feeling of helplessness one could feel with the cuff on. It was not only the suppression of your own magic, but also the magic around you. For someone as dependent on it as them, that feeling was terrible. Still, what else could she do? Her sister had managed to escape from her home within a week and she needed drastic solutions. If Zelena had been successful, she would have been as dangerous for the townspeople as the townspeople would have been for her. However, since Regina doubted the thought would be well received by the red-haired woman, she chose to say nothing.

Nevertheless, despite the risks, she could not just leave the redhead to rot in a cell. She could not give up on her sister when she had had so many chances herself. In any case, her resolution did not make her feel less of a failure for not being able to transmit hope that she also had trouble believing in.

The morning after the disaster, Regina carefully disentangled herself from Henry. Her son had suggested to sleep together in her bed and, for both of their sakes, she had not been able to refuse. She went down to the kitchen and started making breakfast for three.

When it was ready, she decided to let her boy sleep in for a bit longer and, instead, went to Zelena’s room. The redhead was awake, although seeing as the bed was made and the cover was a bit wrinkled where she had been sitting, it was very possible that she had not slept at all.

Regina opened her mouth to talk, but words failed her as she took in her sister’s appearance. The ginger was sickly pale and her dull eyes reflected her exhaustion. When the brunette did not talk, she took the opportunity.

“The door was locked.”

The coldness in those words hit Regina, snapping her out of it. She recovered swiftly and did her best to reply in her most neutral voice.

“I know. You’re not allowed to wander around the house while Henry’s staying.”

“I see,” was the stony response. “So is that the price for displeasing you with my little escape attempt? My cell being smaller?”

Once again, the brunette recalled that her sister was still hurting from the loss of magic and ignored her provocation. The sting of knowing she really thought that remained, though.

“Come on, breakfast’s ready. Remember what I told you. You can come willingly or I can drag you out.”

Despite her look of complete contempt, Zelena complied. Once in the kitchen, she helped herself to tea and pancakes. Regina also chose to ignore the looks that, from time to time, between bite and bite, she received from her sister. The mayor did not know whether the other woman was looking for a trap or for a new chance to escape.

As they were finishing, Henry finally showed up. He offered a sleepy ‘Morning’ and a kiss to his mother. Then, he turned to his aunt. In all probability, Zelena was not even aware of it, but she had jumped out of her chair the moment he had walked into the room. At present, she hesitated, looking at the kitchen door as if it were an exit that she was unsure of wanting to take. Henry seemed to solve her dilemma when he popped down on the chair next to his mother with a plate of pancakes and asked, “Good morning, how are you feeling?”

* * *

Zelena had not forgotten that the boy had whispered reassurances while she had been in pain the night before. Instead of being afraid of the witch that had just managed to escape, he had come closer, had _touched_ her and had tried to calm her down. It was not something that the redhead could have ever pictured and she suddenly felt more than a bit awkward for not knowing how to act in front of him. She had expected mistrust and hate, and even disgust. But all Regina and Henry had given her so far had been a cautious wish to know her better.

She hesitated again, her mouth hanging open for a moment. She turned to look at her sister, maybe expecting —even hoping— to see a glare of reprobation, but the brunette only lifted an eyebrow. She was on her own there. Swallowing, the ginger was not completely successful in hiding a slight tremble in her voice when she decided to speak up. The cuff and all those unpredictable reactions made her feel very vulnerable.

“I’m fine.”

“Really? Doesn’t it hurt anywhere?” Without waiting for an answer, he turned to his mother. “I thought you weren’t very good at healing spells, Mom.”

It was a forced conversation, but why anyone would force a conversation to include Zelena, it was lost on her. Regina took a second to answer, managing a totally nonchalant tone when she did and effectively lightening up their chat.

“I wasn’t. Light magic just makes them a little bit easier.”

Not knowing very well what pushed her to stand up in the first place, the red-haired woman took her seat once more.

Henry kept rambling on and on about his baby uncle Neal, the friends from school he had seen recently and other everyday topics. Regina intervened from time to time and, even if Zelena uttered no word, she could not help listening —somehow, she felt her nephew’s words were also directed at her.

* * *

Regina did not know how or why, but breakfast seemed to relax everyone’s nerves. Her sister had gone back to her room quietly when they had finished eating and Henry was gone after a while, too. He would have lunch with the Charmings later on. And so, for the time being, the brunette needed something to do.

She settled on cleaning up the ground floor, as she had neglected it a little recently. The quiet soon became unnerving and, midway through it, she felt a nagging need to check on Zelena. After a moment of hesitation, she finally gave in and went upstairs. She knocked on her door and, out of habit, she opened it anyway when there was no immediate answer. She found the redhead reading a book, although she put it down at once, looking up at Regina from her window bench. The brunette realised the usually emotionless mask was seriously damaged, as she could easily see a hint of uncertainty creeping up in her blue eyes. She pondered for a moment whether to ask her sister to come down or just order her to.

If she thought Zelena was comfortable secluded in her bedroom, she would not mind that much leaving her alone for a while. However, the ginger looked as if something horrible was awaiting her and Regina wished to show there was nothing to fear. Any kindly worded approach would be met with distrust and rejection, though. Thus, in the end she chose a ‘You’re coming with me,’ making the effort to sound casual instead of commanding. Even so, she saw the other woman gulp as she rose from her seat.

“Henry’s gone, right?”

“Yes,” Regina answered, her voice clipped. She could not help feeling defensive whenever her son was mentioned, but she had not meant to sound so harsh.

The brunette would be lying if she said she was not thankful for her sister’s calmer demeanour, but her behaviour was starting to border on the wariness of who is waiting for the other shoe to drop and the danger to reveal itself. She certainly had no wish to see Zelena despiteful or scornful, but she had not wanted to see her defeated or fearful, either.

“I was just cleaning and thought you’d welcome having something to do,” Regina stated to break the ice as they went downstairs.

“So is that what I’m going to be now? Your housemaid?”

From behind her, Zelena’s voice had begun to rise and Regina sighed internally. She should have guessed earlier on that dealing with her sister would be extremely exhausting.

“I’m cleaning, too, sis” was all she was willing to clarify.

It was met with no answer, so the brunette turned her head around and found an indignant look fixed on her. In turn, she conveyed her response through lifted eyebrows.

Soon, Regina learnt that the ginger was actually good at cleaning. Besides the jealousy issue, that gave her an idea of what background her sister could come from, because the mayor herself had been quite mediocre at it at the beginning of the curse, all those years ago. They mostly worked in silence, although she was secretly relieved whenever Zelena would snap at some of her remarks. Regina wondered if she was not going as insane as the ginger.

“Don’t you really have any injuries from the fall?” she asked out of the blue when it was clear that her thoughts would not leave her alone soon.

“You know I don’t,” Zelena grumbled, not looking up from the vase she was dusting.

“I really wasn’t that good at healing spells before. Well, you _must_ know. After all, you were watching me for a very long time,” the brunette retorted smugly.

“I was a better student,” was the redhead’s only comment. And yet, in it, she managed to convey all the hatred she felt towards Regina and Rumplestiltskin.

And Cora.

Zelena seemed to despise and long for Cora in equal measure. Regina was well acquainted with that feeling.

It was a conversation they needed to have and there would not be a better time —but there could certainly be worse ones. Thus, Regina decided to jump without a net and hope that her next words would not send the older woman storming back to her room. She was afraid of burning the bridge even before building it —a persistent voice in her head kept reminding her how good she was at it.

“You can ask me about Cora, you know. If you really want to know anything at all.”

There would have been a silence following those lines, but it was filled with the sound of ceramic breaking into pieces. The brunette paid no attention to it —she only had eyes for the redhead. For several seconds, Zelena did not move. Then, she looked up and her gaze flashed with plain fury.

“So I can know what I lost?”

“Yes.”

The ginger was probably not expecting Regina’s affirmative reply to be full of confidence. She said nothing. She looked like all her will was focused on not staring with her mouth hanging open. And so, the younger woman seized the rare opportunity and went on.

“So you know how lucky you were for not hearing your own mother saying she was destroying you for your own good. She gave you up, but she held me so close that it was impossible to breathe —it was impossible to grow out of her shadow. To grow up without fear. Neither of us was never enough for her, Zelena,” Regina softened her voice, remembering the current moment was about her and her sister, and tried not to think of ‘You would’ve been enough,’ because deep down she could never believe it anyway, “but it wasn’t our fault.”

By the end of it, both women had tears in their eyes that could not be held back for much longer. Regina dried hers briskly, allowing her sister privacy to do the same while she went to the kitchen and started to make lunch. She half expected Zelena would retreat to her room, but the ginger joined her shortly after, with her blue eyes still a bit wet. The brunette waited for her to make some sort of comment, but no words came out of the other woman’s lips. She respected that, appreciating what had just happened between them, and they finished their lunch and the cleaning in an almost complete silence.

The former Queen could only hope that she was doing the right thing by waiting patiently for Zelena to make the first move instead of pushing as she usually would. Although she might not have cared before, right then, the last thing she wished was to appear indifferent at her sister’s eyes.


	11. Chapter Ten

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To everyone who's still reading, thanks for your patience!

Zelena had gone back to her room as soon as the cleaning was done. Regina had let her do so without a comment, partly because she needed to take care of some business herself. Ever since the recently formed town council had accepted her as the provisional mayor, she had been working from home whenever she could. It was something that would not change for the time being, so she had to remember to run the town in her free time. Before doing so, however, she needed to make a call.

“Yes?” a female voice answered on the other end.

“Snow, it’s Regina.” She bit her lip, thinking about what she would say next. “Is Henry there?”

“Actually, no. He’s out for ice cream with Emma, Neal and Killian. Do you need something? Is everything okay? Henry’s told me things with Zelena were looking up.”

“Everything is fine,” she cut off the other brunette’s rambling. “I just wanted to talk to him, but it’s not important. I thought he’d want to spend the night with Emma.” Regina realised she was fidgeting with her hands and made a conscious effort to stop. As Snow had said nothing, she went on. “He’s being awfully protective and that’s sweet, but he’s just a child and... He’d planned to spend last night at your apartment and he changed his mind because he saw things with Zelena were still a bit rocky. I love every time he says he’ll sleep at home, but I want him to spend the night here because he wants to, not because...” she trailed off, a little overwhelmed for having displayed such naked honesty. And she had yet to tell them how her sister had attempted to escape. Nevertheless, that sort of news was something to be told in person.

“You don’t want him to worry about you. That’s also very sweet of you, Regina, but in this family we all worry a lot for each other’s safety. All the time.” She could hear the smile in her once stepdaughter’s voice.

“I just want him to be happy. He shouldn’t be worrying about grown-up problems. And I don’t want him to feel like he has to choose. I’ve already done that in the past,” she retorted firmly as Snow started to protest. She forced herself to keep on over her reassurances. She could not even fathom why she was opening up so much to the other woman. Perhaps her conversation with the redhead had left her starving for some more earnestness. “I like it when he feels he can spend time with all his family without restrictions. Besides, I know how it is to have the routine with your child suddenly shattered. The memories may be false, but the year Emma spent taking care of Henry is real. I don’t want to be responsible for breaking any more bonds of any of them.”

Her voice almost broke at the end and she stopped to take a silent deep breath. Meanwhile, Snow had started to talk with that high-spirited voice of hers, although it was milder, as if not to scare Regina.

“You won’t. Don’t worry, I’ll pass the message on to Henry as soon as they get back. And I’ll tell him to let you know whatever he decides.”

“Thank you.”

After that, there was an uncomfortable pause, when neither of them knew whether or not it was appropriate to end the conversation. Finally, the mayor went on awkwardly.

“Are you... both... coping well? With the baby?” she asked, cringing as soon as the words left her lips. Snow did not seem to mind her clumsiness, though. She answered at once.

“Yes... It’s difficult, but the most difficult thing is to stop expecting something bad will happen, you know? Letting Neal out of my sight, for instance. I know it’s stupid, but—”

“I think it’s brave,” Regina blurted out, effectively cutting off the pitiful babbling. Then, she seemed to realise she was about to get dragged into a vortex of feelings and heart-to-heart with Snow White and decided it was time to end their chat. “Well, I don’t want to hold you up. I’d better be going. Have a good evening. And don’t forget to tell Henry that.”

“I think it’s brave, too, what you’re doing,” the younger woman said, ignoring Regina’s crispy tone.

The mayor was taken aback by those words and whatever was left of her self-confidence ended up abandoning her.

“Yes, well, unlike others, some of us have actual obligations and cannot spend the whole evening talking about feelings, dear.”

Snow chuckled at her antics, but did not call her out, letting them say their goodbyes at last. Despite hating it whenever someone got the upper hand over her, Regina resisted the impulse of cursing the other woman out loud for daring laugh. Regretfully, she really needed to take care of some mayor’s duties.

* * *

Although there were a lot of books in her room and they were all unknown to her, Zelena was terribly bored —always cooped up in there for the better part of the day. Yet, she could never admit to having enjoyed cleaning up the house for her sister. Even though, to be honest, it had not been _for_ her sister, as Regina had also cleaned. And it had provided her with a distraction. Besides, it had been her who had gone upstairs as soon as it was done. There had been no reason for staying down there in Regina’s company, certainly, but the brunette had not chased her away, the way Zelena had half expected her to. In any case, she could not deny she was bored to death once again.

Sitting on the bed, she was seriously considering coming down to get food or just kill time in any other way. She just hoped killing time would not involve interacting with her sister, who had forbidden the ginger to wander around while Henry was in the house. At the moment, he was not, though, so Zelena guessed that the brunette would have no motives to get angry —if only she understood Regina better and could be surer of it.

The previous night, Zelena had finally understood what her position was. She was a prisoner, but she was not in a cell. She was trusted by no one, but Regina let her eat with her son. She was living in a world where she could neither make the rules nor hope to understand them, because they were entirely unpredictable and out of her control. Thus, she was going through her situation completely blind. This was what living at someone else’s mercy was truly like, with the added horror of not knowing whether the Evil Queen was lurking just beneath the surface, waiting for her to foolishly lower her guard.

She wished she could be angrier about it. She had plenty of reasons: Regina had got everything in the end, as always, while Zelena had lost again. It was the brunette’s fault that she was powerless. Regina had taken away her magic and her freedom, and that alone should be enough to make her furious, to wish her sister had not ever existed. Still, with each passing day and every little mistake she made in everyone’s eyes, she became more and more aware that Regina was also the first one in her life who had not cast her away the moment she became too much of a burden —she was a lost, wicked cause, but that mattered little there. Yes, both Glinda and Rumplestiltskin had accepted her at first, promising she could be happy if she did as they said. But Regina had offered the redhead a second chance before the former witch did anything to deserve it. So she would like to be angrier and she should be, but not even she could keep pretending things were so easy —nothing seemed to be black and white anymore.

It would certainly have been easier if her escape attempt had earned her some sort of punishment. Then, she would have known how much she could push before her misbehaviour had serious consequences. Perhaps she would have ended up at the mental hospital or back at the sheriff station, where Regina had threatened to send her on other occasions. She would be miserable, but she would have saved herself a huge headache. If only Regina acted the way Zelena kept expecting her to.

It could not be further from reality, though. Instead of getting rid of her for good, Regina had healed the redhead completely and they had gone back to a room that they insisted was Zelena’s. Then, that very morning, she had been allowed to have breakfast in the kitchen as if nothing had happened just hours ago. And Regina had let Henry talk to her, too. It made no bloody sense. There were many things she could not comprehend about the brunette’s behaviour and it frightened her greatly.

The only sure thing was that Regina would never hurt her in front of Henry, and probably anybody else. Beyond that, however, all remained uncertain to Zelena. And suddenly, she realised she was more afraid of uncertainty than anything else. She, who had always had loads of questions, was terrified of answers all of a sudden. Like that afternoon, when Regina had talked about Cora.

Zelena would have liked to act she had as all the previous times, ignoring the hurt in Regina’s eyes and voice —after all, her little sister was a great actress— and focusing on her own pain, on her abandonment and the unfairness of her life. Yelling at the former Queen that she was being a petty brat because she knew nothing about hardship. Yet, on that occasion Regina had taken advantage of the redhead’s astonishment and had managed to convey how she had felt. And, for a moment, Zelena had been forced to see herself in the mirror of her sister’s life. A father for a mother, adoptive versus biological. And lies, lies and more lies.

She did not want to be at her sister’s mercy, and she did not want to pity her or even understand her —not in that deep way the brunette seemed to seek. She did not want to figure out why, even when she meant no threat and could easily be left forgotten in a cell, Regina still took her in. None of that mattered, because she needed no family. She had stopped needing anyone when she had understood the world did not need Zelena, either.

“I don’t,” she muttered. “I don’t need any of them,” she said louder, forcefully, to the empty room, while she wiped away the stubborn tears that would not stop falling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ouch, Zelena breaks my heart. She's also an idiot (but she's my idiot).  
> On another note, I love Regina's and Snow's relationship, but on occasions like this I find it really hard to write. Anyway, I hope you liked it.


	12. Chapter Eleven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope this gives you all the feelings!

In the end, Regina came before the redhead went out. There was barely an hour left until dinner time and Zelena rightly guessed the other woman had come to ask for her help with the evening meal. She was calmer by then, even though distressing doubts kept swimming in her head indolently. Once again, she debated with herself whether to put up some sort of fight or just go with her sister. She was bored and very tempted to give in, but she should not make things so easy for the brunette after she had forced the cuff on her. And so, refusing to meet brown eyes, she chose to settle on a sort of middle ground.

“I’m not hungry.”

Regina sighed, as if saying ‘Not this again.’ She did not sound vexed, though, and Zelena peeked up from her position on the bed. The former monarch sat down on the empty chair, confirming once more that not being a queen for over three decades had not made her any less regal. Immediately, Zelena felt the familiar sting of jealousy and, for once in her life, she tried to ignore it. She did not feel like fighting at all.

“We’ve already gone through this—”

“I’m really not hungry,” the ginger cut off, looking away again.

She could feel Regina’s eyes on her, staring intently, but she did not allow herself to fidget under her gaze.

“We’re alone tonight.”

She looked to her left, out the window, but it was her only reaction to the comment. She knew that and it should not matter. Several more seconds passed in silence.

“Is there anything you want to talk about?” Regina went on, indifferent to her lack of response.

Zelena had never heard such gentleness in her sister’s voice and very, very few times had had said emotion directed at her. To her horror, it made her eyes burn. She had no other option but to look down and get a grip on herself protected behind a curtain of red curls. Regina waited patiently until she could finally look up and the unshed tears were nothing more than an embarrassing memory. Hoping to regain some illusion of control, she asked the first thing she could think of.

“Henry... Your son doesn’t seem the cunning type, does he?”

Zelena would have wanted to cringe at how awkward the words sounded as they fell out of her lips, but she forced herself to keep her head high and her detached mask on. The only sign of surprise that Regina showed at the unexpected change of subject was lifting one eyebrow, almost lazily.

“I suppose he isn’t.”

“Then why does he...?” she blurted out before she could think better of it. She had been wondering why Henry would be willing to talk to her, but in the end, she was not brave enough to display so much bewilderment at such a common thing, so instead she asked, “Why is he being so nice to me?”

“He’s like that,” her sister answered, suddenly smiling unrestrained. “He just wants everyone to be happy.”

“But why me?” the redhead insisted.

“Well, you actually _are_ his aunt.”

“But I’m not... Not really...” she stammered out.

“Like I’m not his real mother?” Regina’s smile disappeared at once. Her eyes went cold and her voice rose, acquiring a dangerous edge —a more familiar sight to both of them. “What do you really want to talk about, Zelena?”

Finally, the brunette had lost her patience, which made much more sense in the ginger’s eyes. However, if she expected a confrontation like those back in the fist days, she was disappointed. Zelena mustered up all her poise —born of not wanting to make the situation more humiliating than it already was— and looked her in the eye. She had little to lose and she might think better if she got some thoughts out of her mind. Regina clearly, _astoundingly_ loved Henry —perhaps she would be willing to clue her sister in what had been missing in the puzzle of her past. And yet, her confidence started to waver as soon as she opened her mouth.

“Is it possible... I mean, is it _really_ possible to love them as your own? An adopted child.”

Her last clarification was unnecessary, but her voice was trembling despite her best efforts and Regina did not call her on it. The brunette only sighed for the second time and got up. Suddenly, Zelena feared that, after all, it was going to be her stupid question what would drive the brunette away. Maybe the younger woman was expecting some question about the cuff, about her future. Of course she would not consider wasting her time discussing family topics with her prisoner. However, as the redhead thought of having ruined her only chance to get a straight answer to her situation, Regina stepped closer and sat beside her on the bed, going so far as to take her hand. With the other, Zelena clumsily wiped the tears that, against her will, had started to fall.

“It is so,” was the soft answer. Then, frowning a little, the brunette added, “It should be so. In the same way that biological parents should love their children, so should adoptive parents. And it’s never the child’s fault if it’s not this way,” she stated, stressing the last line.

She knew Regina was attempting to meet her eyes, but she did not lift her head. It was already difficult to try to get a grip on her emotions at the moment and she did not need to look up and add another witness to her weakness —she had enough feeling ashamed because she was failing miserably.

“But how can I...?” Zelena swallowed. For the time being, she had managed to stop crying, but her eyes were still shining and her throat felt uncomfortably tight. “How could I expect to have been loved, to have been enough for my father... my adoptive father, when even Cora gave me up being just a baby?”

“You can’t blame other people for one’s actions. And while we must own our mistakes, it’s not our fault what Cora did.” Regina gave her hand a firm squeeze, as to underline her words. “We’re not her decisions.”

* * *

After that, the brunette had let her words hang in the air for several moments. Zelena had nothing to reply and, finally, Regina had broken the silence when she announced it was time to start making dinner. She had given a last squeeze to her sister’s hand, for the red-haired woman had not made a single attempt to pull it away.

Zelena had nodded a bit absent-mindedly and both of them had made their way to the kitchen. At present, the former witch stood there awkwardly, unsure if the heartfelt confessions that had just taken place should mean a change in her everyday attitude as well. Regina barely gave her time to think about it, shoving a plastic container with leftovers into her shocked hands.

“Put it in the microwave for a minute.”

Then, she turned around and began to take some lettuce out of the fridge. Hearing no sound from her sister, she turned again, though. The ginger remained stuck in the same spot, looking down at the plastic box.

“What’s the matter?”

The question startled Zelena out of her thoughts. Her alarmed gaze towards Regina made the brunette huff a laugh.

“Okay, I’m teaching you the perks of this modern world now, Greenie.”

Zelena threw a glare in her direction and her bright blue eyes darkened to show her lack of amusement. She tightened her grip on the container slightly —it had been an obvious good-hearted joke, she would make a fool of herself if she overreacted. However, the redhead was not sure whether she should let jabs of that kind pass. She saw nothing good coming from feeling so at ease with each other that they could make such jokes and then laugh them off.

“Just because I’m not trying to kill you right now doesn’t mean I don’t want to.”

“If you say so,” Regina retorted. It came out as deceivingly playful, because her smirk was rough, even a bit dangerous —like a warning that she could drop pleasantries any time she wanted, too.

Despite the initial confrontation, she did show Zelena how to operate the microwave and then, during dinner, the brunette was zapping channels and casually explaining what each button on the remote was for. By the end of the night, both of them were lightly bickering and acting like the talk upstairs before dinner had never existed. Yet, it had —and it felt like a wall that stopped them from completely going back to their former dynamic.

* * *

“Do you want to watch a movie?” Regina asked when the kitchen had been cleaned up and it started to be time for bed.

Zelena had to stop to think for a moment about the new concepts she had learned that day. Movie was the story told in one sitting, while on a TV series the story was divided into a number of episodes. She did not know how long this movie would be, although given what time it was, it could not be very long. Nevertheless, it had been a long day and a part of her craved the safety of her bedroom. Obviously, she had to find other words to express her feelings, because her façade could not just disappear for one heart-to-heart.

“I’ve got no interest in your modern inventions. I’d better go to bed now.”

As she was going upstairs, she heard Regina’s voice once more.

“Should I bring more books and some candles to your room, then?”

The ginger decided she should not bother to dignify the mockery with an answer.

Downstairs, Regina was fighting a smile. She had no idea where that willingness to provoke her sister was coming from all of a sudden, just when the other woman was behaving calmly for once. For all she knew, and if TV shows were to be believed, it could be genetic —just what siblings did.


	13. Chapter Twelve

Regina had gone out with Robin, finally buying a mobile phone for him. Then, they had spent the morning at the park with Roland and, while the child played, she had shown him how the device worked. She was already getting used to the former thief making her laugh at the smallest things. At the same time, she was the tiniest bit terrified of the warm feeling that invaded her every time she looked at Robin or whenever he held her hand and whispered things in her ear for the only purpose of seeing her smile. His love made her feel like a teenager, carefree and excited, but it was his solid presence what took her somewhere safe —a place where she had truly no need to wear any kind of mask.

It was almost noon and Henry would be there soon. Mother and son had agreed on meeting at the park and then heading home for lunch. She had an invitation for Robin and Roland to join them about to fall from her lips when she saw her boy coming closer accompanied by Tinkerbell.

After the customary greeting, Henry told them he had just found the blonde wandering around the park and thought she might want to say hello to his mother. The fairy unexpectedly blushed a little and said between laughs that she needed to find a job. At once, it occurred to Regina that Storybrooke was as unfamiliar to Tink as it was to Robin. She had not really thought about it before, because her friend had adapted to the local attire and housing far faster than her boyfriend.

It also occurred to her that Tinkerbell was as alone as the first time they had met, back in the Enchanted Forest. Regina resolved she would be more thoughtful from then on and so, she made up her mind swiftly.

“How about the three of us catch up tonight? We can have dinner at my place,” she blurted out, barely keeping her smooth façade.

Robin and Tink seemed pleased, even if a little surprised, too. They agreed quickly as Henry lifted his eyebrows in a perfect imitation of her own sassy attitude. A second later, he broke into a grin, though. He was just happy to see that his mother had other people besides him.

The adults fixed an hour for that evening and, then, Regina headed home with Henry.

“I’ll sleep at grandma’s tonight,” he announced once they were alone.

Regina turned to look at him, suddenly worried. It had not crossed her mind that he would be upset.

“That’s not necessary, Henry. We can still have dinner together as we’d planned,” she replied hastily. “I just... I thought you liked Robin and Tink?” She could not help turning her last sentence into a question.

Henry shook his head smiling, though, as if his mother had not understood him at all. He put a reassuring hand on her arm before speaking.

“I do. And I’d like to have dinner with them some other time. But I’m sure you’ll have lots of serious things to talk about tonight. I’m gonna let you guys catch up today so I can hear the fun stories next time we meet,” he grinned.

Regina smirked with a hint of fondness, too, and drew Henry closer to kiss him on the head.

“My wise, brave prince,” she whispered.

“I’ll come back in the morning for breakfast, though. And I’d love pancakes.”

Regina burst out laughing as she bumped shoulders with him.

“Deal.”

* * *

It was during that lunch when Regina announced they would be having dinner with Robin and Tinkerbell. Even Henry saw the apprehension that briefly crossed Zelena’s eyes. Being the child he still was, he hurried to reassure her, thus bringing her fears out in the open as well.

“Don’t worry. They’re mom’s friends and they’re pretty cool.”

Zelena swallowed the food in her mouth with some difficulty and managed to put on a strained smile.

“I’m sure they are.”

Regina lifted an eyebrow to show what she thought of that half-hearted lie.

“What?” the redhead asked defensively.

“Do you even know what ‘cool’ means?”

“Do you even know how to talk without being rude?”

Their staring contest was interrupted by Henry’s chuckle, which made Regina smile and tension leave Zelena’s body.

“Have you already taught her how to play video games?” he asked his mother, already knowing her answer but wanting to keep it casual. At Regina’s head shake, he suggested, “We should spend the afternoon playing, then.”

* * *

“Don’t you have homework to do?”

Her question was just mere pretence, though, and, to Zelena’s dismay, she agreed quickly. She probably missed those afternoons with her son.

Shortly after finishing lunch, they all found themselves in the living room in front of the television. The redhead sat on the armchair, while Regina settled on the couch. Henry, warily yet resolutely, approached his aunt under the attentive look of his mother and handed her a strange device. Zelena had to give it to him, he concealed his nervousness pretty well.

As Henry went to sit next to his mother, the former witch became fully aware of the fact that an afternoon of playing video games was something the two of them were used to sharing. And she had suddenly been included in that routine without a second thought. Barely repressing a head shake, she forced herself to come back to reality and leave that train of thought for later, when she was alone in her room. Discreetly, she glanced aside in order to see how Regina and Henry held the object. There was no need, though, for the boy immediately said it was called a controller and, as soon as the television was on, he started to explain how it worked.

Soon, Zelena was enjoying herself greatly. Video games were like nothing she had ever experienced. It truly seemed magical how the characters on the screen obeyed every time they hit a button —okay, mostly they obeyed, but she was getting the hang of it quite fast. Henry was really good, barely taking his eyes away from the screen, whereas Regina seemed to be more focused on his facial responses, his shouts of happiness and groans when he lost. Time flew and, a couple of hours later, the brunette excused herself to go to the bathroom. Zelena could not really blame her for the warning glare that was sent in her direction before she went away.

“You’re better than I thought,” Henry said as they started a new race on Mario Kart. Any previous nerves on his part had disappeared in favour of focusing on the video game.

“Uh, I... Thanks. I guess,” she replied.

Her concentration on the game was lessened by the fact that her anxiety did exceed any other thing she could currently be feeling. Regina had let her alone with her son for the first time and she had no idea what to make of it. She had the damn cuff on her, but still... Henry seemed relatively at ease with her. She did not know how she should feel about that, either.

They played for a while in silence. She was trying to summon up her courage to ask him how _he_ felt —about her, about second chances and villainous redemptions as well. Nevertheless, when she was about to say the words, Regina walked in. Her courage failed her as swiftly as so many other things in her life had before.

Her sister watched them for another bit, before stating it was enough gaming for a day. Henry groaned, even though deep down he knew his mother was somewhat right. He told her he wanted to meet some friends that evening before dinner, and she agreed, reminding him to be punctual at Snow’s apartment. Thus, he immediately hurried to disappear upstairs to take a shower. Regina’s smile was still on her face after he was gone.

Zelena fumbled with the words in her head for a moment, feeling slightly out of place witnessing such a domestic scene. Finally, she managed to figure out what she meant to say.

“I suppose I should get to my room now.”

She had not hesitated, nor her voice had held any particular kind of feeling. And still, Regina looked at her in surprise, as if she had trouble believing why she would say such a thing.

“You don’t have to. I’m going to check I have all I need for dinner. You’re welcome to come with me.”

Zelena bit her lip, giving her a curt nod. She followed her to the kitchen, where the brunette began to take out several ingredients. It was a while before either of them said anything else.

“I’m glad he’s beginning to make friends here,” confessed Regina in a quiet voice. “His family... Neither of the sides really had the best track record on making friends, but Emma said he had them in New York.” A small pause followed, because the younger woman seemed to have difficulty finding the right words. Finally, she settled on, “I’m just glad he’s got them here, too.”

She fell silent once again and Zelena gave no reply. She had no clue what to say. Her sister was double checking all the ingredients resting on the counter, mentally going over the recipe as she eventually resumed talking.

“It’s my fault, you know?” The bitterest of smiles showed up on her face. “I’m a very closed person and I didn’t give him the best role model. And then, he found the truth, found his other family. And we all fought so much that he didn’t have any time to be with kids of his age. He spent all the time with grown-ups, trying to solve their problems.”

Regina shut up abruptly, realising she had never meant to share so much information about herself or her family.

“Why are you telling me this?” Zelena blurted out, asking the only question that was in her mind since the brunette had started talking.

Regina had her back turned to her, but her shoulders were tense with restrained emotion. She had gone very still and, for a moment, the ginger truly feared that the younger woman would break in front of her —or that she might even attempt to kill Zelena in an outburst. She did not know what to do in any case. However, when her sister moved again, she turned to her slowly, with no apparent homicidal thoughts. She answered with an amused smile that effectively hid whatever she was feeling seconds before.

“Just so you know what you’re getting into with this family.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tink, Henry, video games, heart-to-hearts... I hope you enjoyed. Please, let me know what you think!


	14. Chapter Thirteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologise for the delay in getting this chapter ready. Here comes one of my favourite moments of the series.

Zelena wondered if Regina did it on purpose. If dropping those mentions of family had an ulterior motive. It certainly seemed the most plausible explanation. Besides, it always left her defenceless. She could only come up with sarcastic comebacks, but they were sort of strident when confronted with the naked honesty of Regina’s smile. Thus, in the end, she would choose to shut up, feeling like her sister was pulling her leg.

Henry had come down half an hour later. He had stayed with them, chatting for a while before going out. Then, the sisters had been left alone to make the main course of the dinner: lasagne. Once it was in the oven, Regina had suggested they went upstairs to take a shower and dress up. And so, Zelena currently found herself standing in front of a wardrobe full of the most diverse items and feeling more out of place than ever.

She had been wearing jeans and t-shirts for the past days, stuff Regina had put in there, as her previous outfits were rather uncomfortable to sit around. Now, she needed to ‘dress up’ and, truth be told, she did not feel like wearing her old clothes, either. She ran a hand across her hair, taking out a heavy black skirt and examining it closer. A soft knock on the door interrupted her thoughts.

“Regina?” she asked without thinking. She wanted to berate herself for it right after. Of course it was Regina, there was no one else in the house.

The door opened and the brunette peeked her head in.

“I was just coming to see how you were doing...” She trailed off as she saw the ginger still wearing her robe and frowning at the wardrobe. “What’s wrong?”

At once, a blush spread across Zelena’s face.

“Nothing. Nothing’s wrong,” she said quickly. “I’m just... getting these.”

The redhead threw the skirt and the first blouse she could grab on her bed. However, Regina opened the door wider and leant against the frame, not convinced at all.

“Do you need some clothes?”

Her voice was nonchalant. She was clearly trying not to make much of it, but despite her sister’s consideration —or perhaps because of it—, Zelena’s blush grew hotter.

“No, of course not,” she snapped.

“Of course.” As if those two words did not convey just how ridiculous the brunette found her, they were accompanied by an eye roll.

Then, she strode into the room, took Zelena by her wrist and, without a word, went back to her own room with the redhead on her tail. They had already reached the corridor when Zelena managed to recover from her astonishment. She tried to free her hand, but Regina only tugged harder —she was determined as usual.

They only halted before the brunette’s wardrobe. There was an extremely uncomfortable moment when, as Regina let her go, they both noticed at once that she had been gripping the redhead’s right wrist and, beneath the sleeve, the cuff. That was the reason why it did not really matter to Zelena how surprisingly kind Regina seemed at times or how tempting the illusion of being anything but a prisoner could become. She had a physical, very painful reminder on her all the time.

They stared at each other for a moment, but then Zelena looked away, tugging her sleeve down. There was no point in going over the topic again —Regina had had her reasons, but it did not make it hurt any less. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the brunette burying herself in a search through her clothes, not saying a word until she took out two dresses. One was grey, with long sleeves, whereas the other was blue and had no sleeves.

“I think either of these will fit you all right,” she simply said, handing them out to her. However, Zelena did not make a single move to take them. She stood there, unable to conceal her surprise and disbelief while she tried to figure out what the bloody hell was in it for the former Queen. After a few awkward seconds, Regina decided to put her out of her misery and went on, “What? Not so funny when they’re given to you?”

Those words finally made her react. Slowly, as if she were still half expecting for it to turn into some sort of prank, she took the dresses out of her sister’s hands.

“Thanks, sis,” she said quietly, not quite meeting her gaze.

It was probably the first time that Zelena had genuinely thanked the other woman for anything. For a moment, her bitterness over the cuff was completely forgotten. How could it not be? Regina was giving away her own things just so her older sister could feel more comfortable. In fact, she had been doing so from the start, Zelena shockingly concluded.

“You’re welcome. I’ll be downstairs if you need anything,” was her sister’s reply, as she smoothed down her red dress before leaving behind an increasingly confused ginger.

* * *

When she came down in the blue dress, the blonde fairy was already there, talking to the brunette. She tried not to feel self-conscious about the cuff, wondering if she should have gone for the long-sleeved dress instead. But then, Tink greeted her with a bright smile, as if Zelena were a guest at her friend’s house —as if the last time they had dinner together had not been an absolute disaster. Robin arrived shortly after and Regina even introduced them formally. Then, the four of them sat at the table.

It turned out to be the most relaxed meal they had had without Henry. Tink and Robin acted as a buffer for any sort of tension that might show up between the sisters and, even though Zelena did not talk much, awkward moments were scarce. The redhead knew both Robin and Tink were behaving civilly for Regina’s sake, but she could not help feeling a little warm sensation because of the fact that she was dining with strangers and they were acting civilly towards _her_. Even so, she could only bring herself to show her gratitude by answering their questions politely —albeit somewhat curtly.

Later on, the main topic revolved around possible jobs for Robin and Tinkerbell —and Robin actually choked on his drink when Regina suggested Emma could use another deputy at the sheriff’s station. Once the laughter had died off, he shook his head smiling and redirected the conversation to Tink, who had been a little gloomier about the subject earlier.

“And why don’t you look for a job at the sheriff’s station or the town hall?” he asked pointing at his girlfriend, who was still grinning at him mischievously.

At once, Regina’s face changed as a look of realisation crossed it.

“That’s actually a great idea.”

“You seem surprised,” Robin retorted.

“What can you expect from a thief who lives in the woods?”

“What are you two talking about?” Tink cut in the banter, bewildered.

“You’ve just got yourself a job,” said Regina, turning to her friend with a bright smile.

Zelena had seen it coming and hardly managed to suppress an eye roll when Tinkerbell gasped openly.

“What?” she asked.

“You can start as my secretary, but what I’d really need is a PR—”

“I’ve got no idea —or experience— about how to do any of that!” the fairy cut her off. She seemed to be on the verge of panicking and was not attempting to hide it very hard.

“Don’t worry, you can learn. Everyone can learn,” the brunette replied soothingly.

Regina’s glance in her direction caught Zelena by surprise and she quickly swallowed the food in her mouth to reply. However, when she opened it, she had not got the faintest idea about what she wanted to say. Fortunately, it went unnoticed because her sister kept talking like nothing had happened.

“Zelena wasn’t even familiarised with a TV a few days ago. This afternoon, Henry showed her how to play video games and now she’s as good at it as I am.”

The blonde looked her up and down, clearly seeing something she had not considered before. Robin smiled a little, and Regina was simply... happy. Why, Zelena did not dare pinpoint exactly. She opened her mouth again and, then, still unsure of what to answer, she covered it by taking a sip of wine.

Dinner kept running smoothly. They kept chatting well after it was over, until Tinkerbell excused herself by saying it was late and she was getting sleepy. Robin did not seem ready to call it a day just yet, though —and, as her sister walked her friend out, Zelena wondered if she should just go upstairs and leave them alone. Yet, somehow, it seemed inappropriate. Since she had managed to avoid any fuss so far, she was not very willing to mess it up now.

Thus, they stood in the middle of the dining room, where they had ended again after cleaning up the table. To her dismay, Robin decided to break the awkward silence.

“So, how are you doing?”

He was visibly uncomfortable and she mentally scoffed at his obvious need to make small talk. She may not be confronting the world non-stop those days, but it did not mean she would put up with false niceties.

“Hasn’t Regina been reporting to you?” she snapped, with so much bitterness that it even surprised her.

Robin did not look taken aback, though.

“I prefer everyone speaks for themselves.”

Zelena bit her lip as she turned around to occupy her hands with some object on the table.

“You’re right. She often makes no sense, even when she’s speaking for herself. I don’t want to imagine how she must mess up when she speaks for others.”

“Why do you say that?”

Zelena could only detect good intentions and curiosity in his voice. She hated it was all she needed to keep talking.

“Because... Because she says that blood doesn’t make a family, th— that family is much more than that. So it doesn’t need blood at all. You see, she’s already got her little family without a single blood relative. But... But if that’s true, if one shouldn’t care less about blood relations in this business, then why does she insist on us being sisters? I— It doesn’t make any sense.” She was starting to breathe laboriously —the effort of putting her confusing thoughts into words and the anxiety that came with them had taken a toll on her.

There was no immediate answer and apprehension started to creep up her spine. Then, the voice that replied was not Robin’s.

“Because blood may not be everything, but surely it can be a good start sometimes.”

Regina’s voice was soft and gentle, but it made the redhead flinch nevertheless. She turned to face the brunette and found out she could not hold her gaze.

“I— I should leave you two alone.”

“What?” Regina had been wearing a tiny smile that died to give way to a slight frown. “Of course not, Zelena. You don’t have to...”

She did not stay to hear the end of that sentence, instead climbing up the stairs as fast as she could without actually running.


	15. Chapter Fourteen

Zelena heard the occasional muffled laughter, which was enough to feed the jealousy and anger that she did not _know_ how to stop feeling.

Regina had become _so_ nice. She had been the villain of her story, like Zelena. And like Zelena, she had wasted whatever second chances she had been offered. But then, unlike her, Regina had finally taken one. And she had created a family and moved on from the dark shadows of her past. Seeing her own inability to do the same, the redhead could not help resenting her sister for just being able to laugh again.

And, for the first time in her life, she wished she could choose whether to be jealous or not.

Sitting on the bed, she threw across the room the first thing she could grab —a cushion. She was crying her eyes out and did not really see where she aimed —not that it really mattered. She felt so overwhelmed by so many thoughts that she had done nothing to stop the tears. The cushion missed anything breakable and so, it took out any satisfaction she could have got from destroying her belongings.

Belongings that Regina had given to her.

A growl came out of her throat, but all her willingness to fight seemed to escape with it as well. Feeling utterly defeated, she lay face down on the bed, trusting the bedspread would stifle her sobs.

She must have fallen sleep, because the next thing she knew was that someone was knocking on her door. She hardly had enough strength left to startle.

“Yes?” the ginger answered when her brain managed to process the information. To her horror, she realised her voice gave away she had been crying.

“Zelena? Are you okay?” her sister asked from the other side.

“I’m— I’m all right,” she answered, trying to put some strength in her voice. It must still have sounded off, though, because Regina did not open the door and walked in like she owned the place, as she tended to do.

“Are you sure? Can I come in?” The brunette’s voice was plainly worried and Zelena was starting to feel a bit stupid, because she still had a hard time believing it was genuine every time.

“Yes, I’m fine. And I’d prefer if you didn’t. I was actually asleep.” Well, at least that last part was not a lie.

Regina took several seconds to reply.

“Okay, sorry for waking you up. I’m going to bed now.” She seemed to hesitate before adding, “Goodnight, sis.”

Zelena did not answer, remaining still and attentive instead. Then, when she heard Regina’s bedroom door click shut, she got up. She went to the bathroom, hoping to clear her mind up a little by splashing water on her face. She could feel envy and anger lurking silently, waiting for her to lower her guard so that they could take control. As she dried herself with a towel, she took a long, pensive look at her reflection. After gazing at her tired blue eyes for some seconds, she finally shook her head slightly to snap herself out of it and hurried to finish. She was actually about to turn around when she spotted it —unmistakable, creeping up her neck...

She had no clue how she managed to get to her room without fainting.

* * *

Regina thought they had been making some sort of progress. Small, tiny steps, yes, but steps nevertheless —hopefully, towards a brighter future than the one where Zelena was constantly trying to wipe her off existence and all Regina thought about was how to stop the Wicked Witch. As much as she despaired sometimes, now she knew how powerful small steps could be.

However, she had been wrong. Extremely, sorely, disappointingly wrong.

She and Zelena were going nowhere. Recently, the redhead had been cranky again. She was reluctant to engage in conversation even when Regina tried to get a rise out of her. She had thought dinner with Tink and Robin had been a good idea, but she had been wrong about that, too, because it was since then that her sister had built up all her defences and masks once again.

Regina was quite convinced that the resentment for putting the cuff on her had finally blown up, making Zelena refuse any clean slate that she was offered. Even so, the brunette could not help wondering if it could be that, simply, she was not the woman for the job. Perhaps what the ginger needed was a more patient person, someone who knew better how to resist bad thoughts and create healthier habits. Tink had stated very clearly that it was all nonsense —precisely because Regina knew what it was like to fight darkness, she knew better than anyone else the way towards change. Snow had just shrugged the last time they had met, saying that each person was different, but that she harboured no doubts about the mayor’s capability to control the situation. All in all, the most important thing was not to lose hope. Regina reminded herself that one of her redemption clauses was, precisely, to avoid choking Snow every time she brought up that word.

So far, things had been tough, but nothing had really exploded yet. Regina could only hope that Henry was not there when it did, because she was certain that, at one point or another, it would. Her son had been spending the last few nights at home, but he had been lucky enough to be spared Zelena’s more aggressive remarks for the moment. She wished she could say it was because her sister was calmer in her son’s presence, but in truth, it was because the redhead had resumed avoiding her nephew.

She was truly dreading that night’s dinner. Zelena had been increasingly hostile and snappy that afternoon. The only reason not to send a tray up to the ginger’s room was the fact that it was unlikely to help improve her mood. And, for a moment, when she came into the dining room with her sister and Henry smiled up at them from the table, Regina allowed herself to believe that everything would be fine, that the former witch would not do anything foolish that evening.

Everything went actually to hell only a few minutes later.

Zelena was nervously fidgeting with her hair —another new habit— when Regina offered her more wine. It was a harmless enough question, but the redhead managed to get a fight out of it.

“How wouldn’t I? It’s the only thing that allows to swallow what you call a meal,” she snapped.

Henry frowned at the odd behaviour. And so, even if she had not been sick and tired of putting up with Zelena’s bitterness, she would have answered back anyway. She was not going to allow the redhead to talk like that in front of her son.

“What’s the matter with the food? You’ve never got a complaint about it before.” At least, any serious complaint. What did her sister think she was going to achieve by going back to the first days?

“Just didn’t want to give you any excuses to kill me, dear,” she said, smiling a bit maniacally. She seemed proud of her little stunt. This was the woman who had learnt to love manipulation and mind games, and not the woman who, just a few days ago, out of desperation and insecurity, had asked Regina if someone could love an adopted child as much as a biological one. “Even more so after you put this blasted cuff on me.”

Her boy paled ever so slightly, no doubt remembering suddenly that the woman who was his mother had also been the Evil Queen once upon a time. A counterpart who, in fact, would have killed someone just for showing her such disrespect.

Regina tightened her grip on the cutlery in an attempt to keep her emotions in check. It failed and the fork and the knife crashed on her plate a second later, clattering loudly. The sound was muffled by her answer, though.

“You lying bastard,” she said strongly, her voice as icy as winter in Maine.

Regina got up, her equally cold eyes looking down at her sister, who had lost her smirk. She did not see her son gulping, incapable of saying a word.

Her temperament ran hot at the moment, but seeing the tiniest flick of fear cross Zelena’s face neither made it explode nor soothed it. She spent some very tense seconds calming herself down, not looking away from the redhead once. Then, she spoke in the same chilly voice, although that time she managed to keep it even.

“If you don’t want to eat, then fine. Go to your room. We’ve finished here.”

Colour had drained from Zelena’s face, but Regina did not stop to analyse anything. The mayor watched her get on her feet slowly and, then, walk out of the living room briskly. She only sat down again once her sister was gone, letting out a tired sigh as she did so. When she looked up at her son, he was staring back at her with wide eyes. Worried about how he could have interpreted their argument, she hurried to explain herself.

“Henry, I wasn’t going to do anything, I s—”

“She was trying to provoke you, right?” he cut her off.

Regina let out a weak smile, deeply relieved that he had understood needing no further explanations.

“I think so. But I don’t know why.”

“She’s been acting weird lately. Maybe something happened without us realising?”

“Maybe,” his mother agreed, a bit absent-mindedly. She was already thinking of possible solutions. “I’ll talk to her tonight, don’t worry. This can’t happen again.”

Henry smiled, wishing her good luck. And, despite her sister, Regina felt the world right again with just the smile of her little prince.

Later on, after Henry had gone to bed, Regina knocked softly on Zelena’s door. There was no answer, but Regina was not going to let her sister fester her anger all night. She opened the door and was surprised when only darkness greeted her. It had not crossed her mind that the redhead might be already asleep. As her eyes became used to the dark surroundings, she could distinguish Zelena’s shape lying on the bed. She was not under the covers, but at least she had changed into her pyjamas.

Regina hesitated for a couple of seconds before sneaking into the bedroom. She came closer to her sister and saw tear tracks on her face shining under the moonlight. It was not unexpected, but it unsettled the brunette all the same. She fidgeted with her hands, because she knew they needed to have this conversation as soon as possible and, at the same time, a just-awake Zelena may not be the best option. She made up her mind when she glanced at her sister’s face again. Even though it felt selfish, she thought she had a better chance at winning if the incident was still fresh in their minds. Thus, she sat on the bed next to her and shook her shoulder lightly.

Zelena took a while to wake up, but when she did, she startled badly. Her first reaction was to sit up as she tried to put some distance at once between her and the nocturnal intruder.

“It’s okay. It’s me, Regina. It’s okay,” the brunette whispered, hurrying to calm her down as she reached out for her.

Then, she thought better of it and leant back to switch on the lamp on the bedside table. Regina hoped it would help to put the other woman at ease. However, when light fell on them, the brunette saw something that wiped away any thoughts in her mind, leaving her with her mouth hanging wide open.

“Zelena...” she muttered, barely pointing at where the pyjama shirt had moved out of place, revealing a little of her cleavage.

The redhead, who had been gazing at her with confusion clouding her blue eyes, looked down and paled right away. She tried to cover herself as she jumped off the bed. Meanwhile, Regina remained staring at her in evident shock.

“You’re...”

She could not repeat the same words that she had said over a year ago. She did not want to state the obvious again so rudely, but the truth was undeniable: her sister was turning green.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To make up for my crazy update schedule, here's another chapter! And it comes with a short reflection on the dinner incident from Zelena's point of view. You can read it here: [Wicked and Unredeemable](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19465270/chapters/48228574).  
> Hope you liked it. Just one more chapter left to finish this first part of the series. =)


	16. Chapter Fifteen

It was truly over. Or perhaps it had been over since Regina had sent her to her room as an unruly child, stating ‘We’ve finished here.’ Why else would her sister wake her up in the middle of the night? Well, not her sister. They had never been really sisters —and Zelena was not Regina’s responsibility.

None of it mattered anymore. If Regina had ever thought of forgiving her, it was ruled out now. She had finally seen the green that had become more and more difficult to conceal with her hair or clothes as the days passed.

Still, Zelena was determined not to let the brunette see her break. She stood there, head high and a look of pure defiance in her eyes, while the other woman kept trying to get a grasp of the current situation.

“You’re...”

Regina looked like she would not be completing her line that time. It was the redhead’s turn to steel herself, then.

“Yes, dear. It seems my insides are starting to show,” she sneered, echoing the words that Rumplestiltskin had told her once, long ago, when the green had first appeared.

“But it can’t be. You don’t have any magic,” the brunette replied, refusing to believe what her eyes were so clearly showing her.

The younger woman finally reacted and got off the bed. Involuntarily, Zelena took a step back. She had no magic, indeed, but who would believe her? She gulped and soldiered on.

“But it _is_ , sis,” she snapped with all the venom she could muster up. She thought she saw Regina flinching ever so little, although she could not be sure.

“Okay,” came the answer. To Zelena, it sounded as if the brunette was aware of approaching a very skittish horse. It irritated her, but it was also soothing and reassuring and she could not help but keep listening. “We’ll figure it out. We’ll find the reason and, then, we can think of a solution.”

Those were not the words that she had believed so firmly she would hear. It could not be real, there had to be some hidden purpose that she was not seeing. Nevertheless, as she repeated those utterly unexpected words in her head, Regina continued talking and coming closer.

“Is that why you’ve been acting so strangely these days?”

The brunette was almost touching her and Zelena bolted before that could happen. She did not understand anything and was feeling more and more cornered.

“I haven’t been acting strangely! I’m the bloody Witch of the West! I’m like that, even if you goodies won’t believe it. I’m wicked, Regina!” Her voice broke on the last word and all her wrath deflated at once.

She was just tired —sick and tired of everything. She only wanted the world to leave her alone.

She felt like she was falling to pieces, so it was not surprising that the following seconds would always remain a blurry mess in her memory. Suddenly, she became aware of having started to cry at some point. And when she did, she also realised that she was sitting down once again and she was not alone as she had wished earlier. In fact, arms were surrounding her and a hand caressed her hair. She had also her face against Regina’s blouse, which had already become wet with her tears.

She tried to stop crying ant to pull away at once, but she just managed the former mildly. Her sister shushed her and tightened her hold, effectively cutting off her protests. And Zelena, over her fear, over her anger and over her embarrassment, felt safe. She had not felt so safe since she was a little girl —like nothing in the world could hurt her while she had those arms around her.

* * *

A while later, Zelena had finally run out of tears and both sisters remained sitting on the bed. Regina’s arms no longer held the ginger against her, but one of her hands still lingered over one of Zelena’s in the most casual way possible. Although they had spent quite a long time in silence, the brunette did not seem in a hurry to break it and go to bed. And so, the red-haired woman decided to gather up whatever courage she had left and speak her mind, even if she did so in a whisper.

“I think... It may have something to do with the day I tried to escape.”

Her cheeks were burning at recognising yet another failure to Regina, but the brunette only hummed thoughtfully and started rubbing small circles on her hand.

“And why do you think that?”

“Because I— I tried to use magic focusing on my jealousy.”

“But then, why does it start to show up now?”

“I don’t know,” she replied curtly, letting out a frustrated sigh.

There was a small pause and Zelena began to wish that the other woman would drop the subject.

“Did something happen during that dinner?” Regina finally decided to ask, looking her in the eye.

Zelena looked away just a second later.

“It wasn’t your fault,” she muttered, reluctantly. It was obvious she was not used to putting the blame away from her sister.

“What? What happened?”

There was a slight note of panic in the brunette’s voice and Zelena huffed, pulling her hand away. She wanted to deny any weakness, but it was only right that the mayor would demand honesty in exchange for taking her in.

“I just got jealous of you, again.”

Regina mimicked her huff and ran a hand across her dark hair. She looked like she about to say something along the lines of ‘There is nothing about me to be jealous of,’ but thankfully, she thought better of it.

“Well, we’ll figure something out,” she settled on saying.

“Aren’t you disgusted by it?”

It had been blurted out of bewilderment at Regina’s easy reaction, but she regretted having asked right away. In the best-case scenario, the brunette would politely say ‘no’ and learn about the redhead’s own disgust. And yet, it would not dismiss the fact that she had done something worse than refusing the second chance she had initially been offered. She had failed to meet Regina’s expectations —she had let her down. Zelena had admitted to turning green because she had been feeling jealous again. She could not help it. She could not change and the former Queen was surely seeing that, too. Since she could not take the question back, she kept quiet and waited. At least, she might learn what was going on inside the younger woman’s head, for she took on Zelena’s problems without a second thought.

She put a hand over her neck, covering the green patch. She was ashamed that her vulnerability was exposed to her sister’s eyes in such an obvious way. However, Regina caught her hand quickly and she made sure her fingers touched the green skin.

“No, of course not,” was the reply, accompanied by a reassuring smile. “It’s okay, we’ll find a solution.”

Tears welled up in her eyes again, because her sister looked more genuine than ever and because she was truly not planning on using the whole situation as an excuse to get rid of the fallen witch. She even had the wild wish of wanting to confirm that she could continue living in the house, but luckily for her, she did not find the words to ask the question. She would probably have made a fool of herself trying to. Thus, instead of drying the still unshed tears, she reached out and held onto Regina’s free hand as well. The brunette gave her a little squeeze and it was all the reassurance she needed to tighten her grip on both hands. Truthfully, it was all the confirmation she needed.

“What do you want, Zelena? A family, love?” The redhead was too overwhelmed to answer, but the brunette did not look like she was expecting her to, as she went on, “Redemption isn’t easy, but it’s _possible_. It really is.”

“I— I don’t think I’ll be able to.” Tears were falling once again, but she was calmer that time. “I can’t change.”

She admitted it because, if Regina was truly taking her into her family, she needed to know. Zelena would not change, whether she tried or not. It was too late and they were both predisposed to disappointment if they let themselves believe otherwise.

“Listen to me. Please, Zelena, listen to me.” Her sister’s voice snapped her out of her dark thoughts. The brunette waited until blue eyes met brown ones to go on. “Only you can stop yourself from changing, redeeming yourself and being happy. I know it’s hard to believe, but it’s also true.” Regina made a small pause, staring seriously into Zelena’s eyes, as if to ensure she was listening closely. “If you think you were born to be the villain, you’ll never try to play the hero. Don’t limit yourself, sis.”

Silence fell between them again. The ginger looked down at their intertwined hands, trying to process —to believe— everything the other woman had said. Then, she looked up at the brunette, who offered her a somewhat shy smile. Zelena attempted to return it with one of her own, but she still felt her throat tight and her smile wavered. Biting back a sigh, she finally pulled her hands away and dried her face. A sudden gasp made her stop, though. She barely had time to throw a questioning look before Regina was explaining herself.

“I think I just saw something that proves I’m right,” she said, smiling from ear to ear. The redhead opened her mouth to ask what it was, but her sister did not give her the chance. “You should look at yourself in the mirror.”

Zelena opened her eyes wide and jumped off the bed. She hurried to the vanity. At the beginning, she saw nothing new. She did not think she would have any more tears to cry over another false expectation. She was ready to turn around and demand an explanation when something caught her eye. Wasn’t the green patch bigger before? She could swear it was. Besides, it no longer reached her neck. She turned around to face Regina, who had come closer.

“Is it...?” She trailed off, afraid of even saying the words out loud.

“I saw it faded away. Well, just a little. But that’s good news, right? A beginning,” the brunette added, hopeful.

Zelena nodded, turning again towards the mirror. It certainly was. The green had just kept spreading those past days, no matter what she did. The fact that now it had started to become smaller was indeed wonderful news.

Maybe things could truly change.

“We should really go to sleep.” Regina broke the silence after a minute of quiet contemplation. “Tomorrow’s Sunday and I’d like to make Henry some treat for breakfast. What do you say about muffins?”

In response, Zelena gave her the first real smile.

* * *

When the redhead came down the next morning, Henry and Regina were already in the kitchen. She stood at the door, not wanting to come in yet. She had had a moment of bravery earlier and she had put on a normal t-shirt, so the green skin could easily be seen. She needed her sister to take a look at it, but she was not so sure of wanting Henry to see it, too. Swallowing, she offered them a nervous smile.

“Can I talk to you for a second?” she asked to the other woman.

The brunette nodded and stood up. They did not go very far and Zelena did not dare raise her voice above a whisper.

“Do you think it’s even smaller this morning?”

She was blushing furiously. She felt too self-conscious, looking for confirmation from her sister. Nevertheless, Regina seemed to pay it no attention, instead focusing on the skin.

“I think so. Don’t you?” she asked in return, looking up.

“I... Yes. I just wasn’t sure.”

Regina smiled softly, because she had understood the true meaning of her words: ‘I’m having a hard time believing good things are actually happening to me.’

“Well, it’s settled. Let’s go to the kitchen. The muffins are almost ready.”

Aunt and nephew exchanged ‘Good mornings’ when they came back, but it was not until the ginger sat at the table with her cup of tea that Henry saw the green skin.

“What’s that? Are you sick?” he asked.

Zelena took a sip and, then, forced herself to look him in the eye before answering.

“No, I’m fine. It’ll go away.”

“Does it hurt?”

“No, it doesn’t feel any special, to be honest.”

“Oh. And when will it go away?”

“Eventually. We’re not very sure.” At that point, Zelena glanced up at Regina, uncertain whether the boy’s mother wished to add something.

“So you won’t be turning green?” he blurted out before the redhead could decide how she felt about the obvious fondness that glinted in the woman’s brown eyes.

“Henry!” Regina scolded him at once. “That’s incredibly rude.”

“Well, look who’s talking,” the redhead cut in, rolling her eyes.

She hid a smirk behind her teacup. It was a comfortable banter and no one seemed disappointed by the unexpected turn of events. It truly felt as Zelena had always imagined a home should feel. Perhaps fighting to belong to the Mills family was worth it after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All right, this first part is finished! What an emotional roller coster. I truly hope you enjoyed the story and stick around for the sequel and extra bits (I promise I won't make you wait too long). Thank you for all the comments, kudos, subscriptions and bookmarks, they make me incredibly happy.


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